Bianca Alvarez

The program LatinXplorers in Tech will be designed as a second stage learning environment for all the girls that have attended our basic programming workshops with the collaboration of Southwest LatinX. Southwest LatinX is a nonprofit organization in which its mission is to empower the local youth in El Paso, Texas through education, technology, media, and community engagement. We will be serving economically disadvantaged girls with the majority being daughters to migrant working families in our borderland.

This project will be a unique program in our Borderland, in which advanced computer science workshops will be developed in a fun environment, learning about python, programming with Arduino and Adafruit, website development, machine learning, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. Our goal is to empower girls in our community to learn how technology is applied to many fields. Secondly, we want to spark their interest in a technology career and higher education. Thirdly, we want them to have enough skills to continue learning by their own and be able to start or contribute in a project that will benefit our community.

LatinXplorers in Tech will start in the upcoming months as a virtual coding club for girls where we will work on multiple projects along with mentors, who are Latina role models in the tech field. Bianca’s vision for the future of women in the tech industry is to see Latina girls having the same opportunity to learn programming skills at a young age, regardless of their ethnicity or economic status.

Bianca is pursuing a M.S. in Software Engineering at The University of Texas at El Paso. She was Vice President of UTEP’s chapter ACMW, National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) AspireIT Program Leader, and CAHSI Scholar 2019-20. She is passionate about empowering Hispanic girls through technology and educational programs.