Target & HHF Host TECH Symposium & LCS

TARGET AND HISPANIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION HOSTED TECH SYMPOSIUM AND LATINO CODER SUMMIT IN MINNEAPOLIS  

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Target and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF) hosted the first Latinos On Fast Track (LOFT) Tech Symposium and LOFT Coder Summit in Minneapolis on November 6th and 7th in an effort to engage, connect and guide high school, college and young professionals interested in computer programming careers.  The hashtag for the summit was #LatinoCoders.

LOFT Tech Symposium

November 6, Friday, 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. 

Target City Center, 33 S. Sixth Street

Program included an Introduction to the Importance of Technology, a Design Thinking Workshop, and a panel of local tech professionals-aimined to communicate and inspire career tracks to college bound high school juniors and seniors. (View pictures from the Symposium here.)

LOFT Coder Summit

November 7, Saturday, 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. 

Target Headquarters, Target Plaza, 1000 Nicollet Mall 

The Summit is a free, one-day gathering featuring back-to-back workshops, discussions, and networking as well as opportunities to explore internships and careers for students, entrepreneurs and professionals. Students and professionals traveled from all over the Midwest and other parts of the US. (View pictures from the Summit here.)

“Target and HHF want to provide the burgeoning Latino youth community in Minneapolis with inspiration, vision and connectivity to tech careers, which his critical to the workforce,” said Jose Antonio Tijerino, President and CEO of HHF.  “We believe there is a lot of talent right here in the Twin Cities capable of filling the gap in the tech industry with youngest and fastest growing segment of the population.”

The Summit is part of HHF’s Code as a Second Language (CSL) initiative, which also features HHF’s mobilizing their developer network to introduce computer programming to grade, middle and high school students in more than 15 markets and 50 schools. (Although there are over 2 million vacant jobs in the tech fields over the next five years, 90 percent of schools don’t teach coding- CSL is designed to fil that gap). To learn more about CSL, become a sponsor or to request CSL come to a school or community, visit www.loftcsl.org.

About HHF and LOFT

The Hispanic Heritage Foundation was established by the White House in 1987 and has expanded its mission to inspire, prepare, and connect minority leaders in the classroom, community and workforce to meet America’s priorities.  HHF also promotes cultural pride, accomplishment, and the great promise of the community through public awareness campaigns seen by millions.  HHF is headquartered in Washington, DC, and has offices in Los Angeles, New York and the LOFT Institute is housed at Michigan State University (Visit www.HispanicHeritage.org). Follow Hispanic Heritage Foundation on Facebook and @HHFoundation on Twitter.