Latina Behind the LOFT Coder Summit!

The Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF) and Infosys Foundation USA are excited to bring our Latinos on Fast Track (LOFT) Coder Summit for its third year at Stanford University this Saturday, May 6^th!

Francia Maciel, CSL Coordinator at HHF, is leading the LOFT Coder Summit in every way possible! From outreaching to hundreds of students and professionals, to finding the perfect panelists and workshop leads, Francia is ready to bring energy to the Bay.

Francia is a 22 year-old Latina who has been working at HHF for only six months, and has grown and learned so much with the help of her amazing Code as a Second Language (CSL) team led by Alberto Avalos, Innovation and Technology Manager! She is always eager to learn, and can light up any room in a matter of seconds.

“Working for HHF has definitely had a great impact in my life. I’ve learned so much in the past six months, I cannot be thankful enough,” said Francia.

Planning for the LOFT Coder Summit usually starts months in advance, Francia and the CSL team are always communicating and always ready when planning successful Summits that take place in different cities across the country! Francia is excited to be part of this day, and to be surrounded by hardworking Latino leaders who want to make changes in the tech world.

“Even though I am the LOFT Coder Summit lead, I would definitely not be able to do this without the support of my team. As the Summit rapidly approaches, we’ve had to work endless hours. I cannot wait to have everyone come together and see the impact it has on all. I really hope everyone takes something valuable with them from this experience,” said Francia.

On Saturday, you can expect to hear from Keynote Speakers including Vandana Sikka, Chairperson of The Infosys Foundation, Cynthia Maxwell, Director of Ios Engineering at Slack, Richie Serna, Co-Founder and CEO at Finx Payments, Gracie Arenas, Senior Technical Artist at Electronic Arts (EA), and Abdul Razack, Executive Vice-President and Head of Platforms at Infosys.

Workshops at this LOFT Coder Summit will include the following: Entrepreneurship, Level Up!: Boosting Your Tech Career XP, Product Management, and Breaking Through the Product Manager Interview.

Noramay Cadena, Co-Founder and General Manager of Make in LA said, “Gathering a critical mass of perceived nonexistent Latino coders is an empowering and inspiring feat; congrats HHF!”

HHF is honored to partner with Infosys Foundation USA, who is focused on bridging the digital divide in America by supporting high quality computer science education and coding skills with a particular focus on under-represented communities.

If you are a student studying CS, or a full-time developer and want to talk code, please feel free to join us for this Summit! HHF and Infosys Foundation USA are united and ignited by our endless passion for technology. Make sure to follow HHF on Instagram and Twitter to stay updated on all the action happening at the Summit on Saturday!

To RSVP go here! We hope you join us for what is expected to be a memorable day in tech!