LiT has grown to 3,000 women, with chapters in Austin, Mexico City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. The group has a "mission to connect, support, and empower Latina women working across the technology sector."
A big part of that mission is through meetups that bring together Latina experts, such as engineers, HR professionals, entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders, as discussion panels on various topics.
Cruz Nieto is chair of the Sacramento chapter and became involved with the group after attending a Silicon Valley meetup.
"While I recognize the lack of Latinas represented in tech as part of my work experience," she told Techwire in an email, "I was stunned to learn that only 1 percent of Latinas are represented in tech — the main goal is to increase this statistic, and we focus on empowering and connecting Latinas through three key pillars: professional development, recruiting and mentorship."
The Sacramento chapter plans free, two-hour meetups every two months, with the next event taking place in September. It is led by the chapter's board of directors: Veronica Gilliard, Jessica Lozada and Monica Barrios.
"The Silicon Valley chapter has tech companies that want to host LiT on a one-year waiting list — I would love our Sacramento Valley chapter to gain that type of momentum!" Nieto wrote. "What started as an informal gathering of friends grew organically. A couple of happy hours turned into a full-fledged movement. As the group became bigger, gatherings became more formalized. They moved from hosting at restaurants to having meetups at some of the top tech companies in Silicon Valley."
The chapter has invited tech companies to reach out and plan meetups and has created a Slack Channel and Facebook page.
"I became involved because I see the gap of Latinas in tech in Sacramento and I felt inspired to contribute to this great cause — not just for working Latinas but for the "Latinitas" — daughters, nieces, sisters that are in school or will soon enter the workforce — It's my hope that these "Latinitas" will join a workforce that is representative of the California population," Nieto wrote. "There are organizational benefits too — as we know, inclusivity benefits organizations by gaining varied viewpoints and feedback — also critical to product development, marketing and sales. "
Nieto welcomes involvement from Latinas across the Tech Ecosystem, including "business development leaders, marketing professionals and recruiters, public relations professionals, sales professionals, journalists, bloggers, entrepreneurs, investors, engineers, cybersecurity experts, data scientists."
