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'Latina Girls Code' Trains, Empowers Young Women for Tech Careers

Stephanie Castillo co-founded the organization Latina Girls Code to teach young Latinas how to code and become the next generation of the tech world.
Stephanie Castillo, co-founder of Latina Girls Code, present a young Hispanic girl her first computer.
Stephanie Castillo, co-founder of Latina Girls Code, present a young Hispanic girl her first computer.MSNBC - Global Citizen

Latina Girls Code is an organization working to bridge and eliminate the diversity gap for girls, specifically Latinas, interested in entering the tech world.

"Most people would assume, 'Well, I can't build an app, I can't build a website, I cant do this, I wasn't formally trained, I didn't go to school, I'm too young, I'm a girl," said co-founder Stephanie Castillo to MSNBC. "So, you have all these things confronting you, you have all these obstacles, and sometimes that's why you can experience importer syndrome — feeling unworthy to do these things."

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Latina Girls Code is a program that provides computers, mentors and classes for Hispanic girls interested in technology. The organization sets up internship opportunities, hack-athons and multi-week programs to show young women different paths they may take in a technology career.

"I didn't really see many women in tech, I saw these big companies like Google and Apple, and I thought it was so cool," said Andrea Herrera, who is 17 years old and immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico with her parents. "I just I didn't see myself in that world yet until I was actually making things. It's surreal."

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