LOFT Coder Summit Brings Tech Leaders to Stanford!

The Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF) and Infosys Foundation USA hosted the Latinos on Fast Track (LOFT) Coder Summit at Stanford University on Saturday!

HHF’s LOFT Coder Summit lead, Francia Maciel, along with the Code as a Second Language (CSL) team, led by Alberto Avalos, Innovation and Technology Manager, planned a successful Summit that brought Latinos to the Bay ready for a day full of technology. People who attended the Summit were excited to learn from each other and work together.

Speakers at the Summit included Vandana Sikka, Chairperson of The Infosys Foundation, Cynthia Maxwell, Director of Engineering, Richie Serna, Co-Founder and CEO at Finix Payments, Gracie Arenas, Senior Technical Artist at Electronic Arts (EA), and Abdul Razack, Executive Vice-President and Head of Platform at Infosys.

Speaker Cynthia Maxwell provided words of inspiration to the audience, “It helps to have confidence, no one can do it alone, find your crew, no one does everything perfectly.”

This day was so special because students of all ages were present, along with professionals, speakers and workshop leads. Vandana Sikka, Chairperson of The Infosys Foundation shared her three E’s of Empowerment, “Empowerment through Ecosystems, Education, and Entrepreneurship!”

Workshops at this LOFT Coder Summit included Level Up!: Boosting Your Tech Career XP, led by Gracie Arenas Strittmatter, Breaking Through the Product Manager Interview, led by Frank Rodriguez, and Tools for Taking Action: Design Thinking 101, led by Jessica Salinas, Ashley Tillman and Lauryn Nwankpa!

Frank Rodriguez, Product Manager at Google, defined product management as “the role of a product manager is to determine the strategy for a product or feature, and do whatever is necessary to execute and deliver that vision.”

HHF was excited to partner with Infosys Foundation USA and bring together Latino leaders to the surrounding Bay area to talk about opportunities and careers in technology.

Huge thank you to everyone who attended the Summit, this day wouldn’t have been possible without all of your support. These Summits have taken place in Austin at SXSW, New York, Minneapolis, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and Los Angeles! HHF is constantly working on bringing our LOFT Coder Summits to a city near you. Missed out on the Summit? Check out these photos!