On October 1st, 2020, Latinas in Computing hosted approximately 300 participants attending this year’s Virtual Grace Hopper Celebration during the “Latinas in Technical Roles Networking Session” sponsored by Cisco.

AnitaB.org’s very own Maybellin Burgos opened the session welcoming attendees. Then, Latinas in Computing Co-chairs Luza Jaramillo, Ruth Llanos-Vos and Mirkeya Capellán presented updates to the community, including the launching of the new community website and logo, designed by LiC member Wendy Alemán. The following Latinas in Computing Distinguished Members were recognized during this year’s event:

  • Cecilia Aragón (University of Washington) – learn more about Cecilia here
  • Bea Mendez Gandica (Microsoft, Nuevo Foundation) – learn more about Bea here
  • Natalie Gil (Auna, Darshana) – learn more about Natalie here
  • Dr. Cindy Rubio González (University of California, Davis)
  • Dr. Natalia Villanueva Rosales (University of Texas at El Paso)
  • Claudia Galván (Technical Advisor Early Stage Innovation)
  • Pia Torres (Favaloro University Argentina)
  • Gracie Arenas Strittmatter (Electronic Arts)

Later, Guest Speaker Angela Mesa, Global Channel Operations Manager at Cisco Meraki shared her inspiring story of how she got to where she is today.

Finally, using the Cisco Webex platform, attendees had the opportunity to network with each other using breakout rooms. Room moderators guided the conversation using a fun and interactive trivia game about Latinas in STEM, powered by CrowdParty (you can play the Trivia Game using this link, select Featured Room Latinas in Stem!)

Overall, it was a great session full of inspiring and emotional moments. A big Thank You to the 25+ volunteers who participated in the event, to the Cisco and AnitaB.org teams for helping us coordinate this event, and to Justin from CrowdParty for setting up the trivia game!

We hope to see you all at GHC21 in Chicago!

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