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06/21/13 | Uncategorized

Future Female Founders to Watch from CODE2040

CODE2040 is devoted to helping top minority engineering talent reach their potential. Meet the women of their latest fellowship class. 

By Jessica Stillman (Editor, Women 2.0)

By the year 2040, demographers tell us, the U.S. will be 42% Black or Latino, but right now only 1-in-14 tech employees in Silicon Valley is Black or Latino. America’s most prominent tech hub clearly has a way to go when it comes to diversity. CODE2040 is doing something about it.

Every summer the fellowship program places high-performing Black and Latino software engineering students in internships with top startups and provides mentorship, leadership training, and network development. Their latest class has been announced and is heading off to some of the Valley’s best known companies. It includes some impressive women of color worth keeping an eye on. What will these women found one day?

ingrid avenIngrid Avendaño (Jawbone)
Ingrid, from Venezuela, is a senior at the University of Pittsburgh studying electrical and computer engineering and art. At Jawbone she will be working on the acoustic engineering team.

 

 

Janeth Moran-CervantesJaneth Moran-Cervantes (Jawbone)
Janeth is a first-year Masters candidate in computer science and has BA from CSU Channel Islands. She also tutors high school students and is a TA for Intro to Programming. She’s working with the algorithms team.

 

 

Estefania OrtiEstefania Ortiz (Facebook)
Originally from Puerto Rico, Estefania is a freshman at Stanford University studying electrical engineering with a focus on software development. She has already founded Camino a tu futuro, which helps Puerto Rican students reach their potential.

 

 

sholasqShola Oyedele (Docmunch)
Originally from Maryland, Shola is a senior at Stanford University, studying Science, Technology & Society with a concentration in CS. She is interested in entrepreneurship and starting her own company.

 

 

randi williamsRandi Williams (Jawbone)
Another Maryland native, Randi is a freshman at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), studying computer engineering. Her project at Jawbone is front-end user experience.

 

What else needs to be done to improve the diversity of tech workers in Silicon Valley?

Jessica Stillman is an editor at Women 2.0 and a freelance writer with interests in unconventional career paths, generational differences, and the future of work. She writes a daily column for Inc.com and has blogged for CBS MoneyWatch, GigaOM and Brazen Careerist, among others. Follow her on Twitter at @entrylevelrebel.

 

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