This past Thursday, May 18, 2023, marked the 7th edition of the Latinas in Tech Summit, where thousands of Latina Techies, entrepreneurs, diverse group leaders, investors, executives, and recruiters convened together for the hybrid event.
The largest tech event for Latinas returned in-person at the extravagant San Francisco treasure, The Palace of Fine Arts, after being fully virtual for the last three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the in-person event, there was a one-day virtual experience on Friday, May 19, 2023, via the virtual platform MeetYo. As a long-time partner of Latinas in Tech, Comcast sponsored the event in support of its mission to connect and empower Latina women working in the technology industry.
The first day of the conference brought over ten keynote sessions, fireside chats, panel discussions, a startup competition, and an awards ceremony before finally closing out with a Recruiting Fiesta. On the second day, all the content from the previous day became available on-demand, in addition to ten more live virtual workshops that were hosted by tech leaders and entrepreneurs.
Over 40 speakers and influential voices were featured at the summit, including Ellen Ochoa, the first Latina Astronaut and former NASA Director, and Ina Fried, Veteran Technology Journalist and Chief Technology Correspondent at Axios, among other Latinx industry leaders. The event was moderated by Emmy award-winning Telemundo producer and journalist, Iris Castro.
The theme of this year’s Latinas in Tech Summit was “LET’S GET LOUD.” This reflected the evolution of the DEI conversation, moving from bringing in Latina talent to inclusion, retention, and promotion of Latina talent. Comcast employees were present at the in-person event to speak about the company, culture, opportunities, and promote who we are to this great audience. At the virtual event, our talent and recruitment team hosted a workshop to talk about work-life at Comcast and how to put your best foot forward on resumes and interviews. The panel featured Romy Ricafort, Senior Director of Sales and Engineering for Comcast Business West Division, and Walter Thompson-Smith, Senior Manager of Diversity Recruiting Programs, for a conversation about our advancement in the technology industry and career growth within our future-forward organization.
Since 2017, Comcast has supported Latinas in Tech with more than $460,000 in grants and has been the summit’s sponsor since its inception seven years ago. We hope that these resources will help create more opportunities and representation for Latinas within the industry.
Over the years, Comcast’s ongoing commitment to and investments in Latinas in Tech have helped the organization:
- Build a robust online Career Hub that serves as an exclusive recruitment tool between partner technology companies and LiT members
- Develop mentoring programs to foster the advancement of Latinas in technology careers
- Provide hands-on leadership workshops and online professional development opportunities
- Host monthly networking Meetups
“We are more and more present in tech companies but overwhelmingly at the lowest positions. Overqualified and underutilized. We are using this opportunity to GET LOUD, to be visible, and to show the world why Latinas are not only necessary to create real innovation but how it is also the right Business Decision to put Latinas front and center in leadership positions,” said Rocio van Nierop, CEO at Latinas in Tech.
For more information about Latinas in Tech Summit 2022, please visit: https://latinasintechsummit.org/press/
