Women’s History Month: Celebrating Latinas in Tech

The world of technology is growing rapidly and thankfully, the number of Latinas shaping its future is also expanding. As we continue to celebrate the powerful contributions women have made in the field, here are a few Latinas breaking barriers and creating a more inclusive tech landscape:  

Lincy Ayala and Xiomara Figueroa – BookSloth

These two Puerto Rican founders never thought they would be in the world of apps until nature struck. When Hurricane Maria hit their home in 2017, the island was left without electricity and the two began reading even more to pass the time. That’s when a light bulb lit for Lincy and Xiomara, who were inspired to create a networking app to allow readers in their community and beyond to share reviews from the books they’ve read and connect with other readers from across the globe. They took their skills even farther by attending Apple’s Entrepreneur Camp, an immersive tech lab designed to uplift women and underrepresented groups in technology, and recently became the first women in the history of Puerto Rico to sell a startup company when BookSloth sold to BookClub at the end of 2021.  

Andrea Campos – Yana, tu acompañante emocional 

Andrea is a young Mexican entrepreneur who struggled with depression and decided to not only get up and fight the disease herself but empower others to do the same. She founded Yana, an app that uses a virtual companion with whom users can talk to change their mindset about depression, self-esteem, and even productivity. The app uses psychiatrists and psychologists to develop its content to best serve its users and has become incredibly popular.  After being featured by Apple as an App of the Day in June 2021, the app grew from 80,000 users to one million in less than two weeks. 

Christen Nino De Guzman – Clara

Through her job at popular social media platform TikTok, Christen was alarmed to learn how some content creators and influencers were being paid less than others. She decided to quit her job to create Clara, an app that empowers creators and social influencers through transparent reviews and ratings to see and share how much money companies are paying for brand content. Her vision is to give creators leverage in negotiations, helping them to level the playing field in the world of social media.

Corina Hierro – La Chamba App 

Corina was making her way successfully in the world of media as a reporter for Univision and Telemundo in her home city of Denver when she saw a problem she could help solve with an app. Many Latinos in the workforce, particularly in blue-collar jobs in construction and similar fields, did not have a place to go to find work beyond word-of-mouth. That’s when she created La Chamba App, a bilingual platform that connects companies with Latinos to help solve the labor shortage problem by connecting employers with a largely untapped workforce. Since then, they have grown to include all positions from different fields and now have over 129,000 registered users. 

Lizzie Brown – Yoga Wake Up

Lizzie Brown, a participant in the first Apple Entrepreneur Camp for Latin founders, is an entrepreneur, publicist, and app developer. After founding multiple PR agencies within the fashion and lifestyle space, Lizzie and her husband ventured into the world of wellness with their wellness-based agency KAMALA Collective in 2013, where Yoga Wake Up was created. Yoga Wake up is designed for beginners and those with chronic health issues seeking an easy, approachable way to make yoga a part of their routine with 365+ bed-based sessions and friendly interaction with teachers and the community. The app allows users to learn new yoga routines directly in their beds, tapping the power of technology to help prepare both mind and body for the day.