Meet the Austin professionals who have worked to make Future Chica, our inaugural innovation conference, a success! With their support, our mission to empower girls to innovate through media and technology would not move forward. They’ve contributed their networks, skill sets and ideas to help diversify the technology industry on the ground level and plant the seed of interest for girls to be courageous leaders.
Estevan Aviles, Festival Programming Specialist for SXSW Gaming
Estevan Aviles, a native Austinite and life-long gamer, serves as a Festival Programming Specialist for the SXSW Gaming Festival. Responsible for all the “fun” things that take place during SXSW Gaming, such as organized play, cosplay, panels, and parties, Estevan leverages his extensive experience in gaming alongside the explosive creativity of SXSW to create one of the most unique gaming festivals in the country. He also contributes extensively to the broader gaming community through several local and international initiatives which help to spread awareness and engagement for the gaming industry as a whole. Whenever he’s not working in a professional capacity, Estevan can be found happily enjoying the latest game releases at home with friends and family.
What does “the future is chica” mean to you?
The future is diversity, which involves people of all genders in addition to multiple ethnic backgrounds. By targeting a specific diversity segment in the chicas — Hispanic girls — we are able to more effectively contribute to the larger picture of diversity. The future will include the amazing chicas we will see participating at the Future Chica event, as well as the alumni of other great events hosted by Latinitas such as Start Up Chica and Game Chica. It’s inspiring to know that we’re setting the stage for a much brighter future that is filled with opportunities.
Malcolm Bradford, Exchange Program Manager for 3 Day Startup
Meet Malcolm Bradford, the exchange program manager for 3 Day Startup. Malcolm immensely enjoys working with entrepreneurs in bringing ideas to life, and he is currently focused on building international entrepreneur programs and programming 3 Day Startup’s annual Austria to Austin student exchange this summer. Malcolm’s background is primarily in marketing and communications, but he has graphic & sports apparel design experience as well. In his free time, Malcolm enjoys mindfulness practices such as meditation, yoga, and flotation therapy and strives to incorporate a sense of presence in all things he do. Malcolm also enjoys listening to podcasts, reading, playing basketball, and spending way too much time making playlists on Spotify.
What got you interested in helping to plan Future Chica?
I had a chance to meet with Sylvia Butanda personally and hear directly about the goals of the Future Chica initiative early this year. When she first told me, selfishly my curiosity was peaked because I love new technology, but what sold me was the fact that the conference aims to impact an under-represented community of Latin women in technology and innovation. Although I have just recently moved to Austin within the last year, I quickly recognized the struggle with diversity and lack of programs associated with diverse communities. I think Future Chica is a great initiative for the Austin community that uniquely blends diversity and awareness in the innovation and technology fields for the next generation.
Paulina Cabrera, Project Manager at T3
Paulina Cabrera grew up in Arlington, TX, but had the wonderful experience of living in Neiva, Colombia from 1997 to 2000. Paulina speaks both English and Spanish fluently due to being in primary and grade schools in both Colombia and the U.S. She attended Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL to learn about art and design for video games. Paulina continued her studies in graduate school to focus on game production. After graduating, she came back to Texas — Austin, this time — to begin her career in digital production. She is currently a Project Manager at T3 and volunteers for Latinitas. In her free time, she practices yoga and rock climbing, plays video games, researches science topics, and explores Austin’s endless supply of delicious foods and beautiful parks.
What got you interested in helping with the planning of Future Chica?
After being a part of the committee for Game Chica in 2018, I wanted to continue my support for these amazing, educational, and fun conferences for the chicas. I want the chicas to know that they are capable of pursuing careers and hobbies in these emerging and growing fields of technology.
Jessica Castilleja, Family and Immigration Lawyer as well as Board Member for Latinitas
Jessica Castilleja is a family and immigration lawyer currently serving Central Texas, but her roots stretch to the Rio Grande Valley, where she first nurtured a passion for justice. She has worked as a policy advisor in the Texas Legislature as well as as business liaison/lobbyist for the Workers Defense Project. In these positions, she worked on privacy issues and developer accountability to keep Texas construction workers safe.
Jessica highly values communication and hard work, which she utilizes to help families and the most vulnerable — children — face daily challenges in our society. Jessica lives in Austin with her husband and two toddler sons. She lives her life according to her grandmother’s words, “Do it con ganas, mija.”
Why is the future “chica”?
This comes from my own personal experience, but I think girls and young women of color are beginning to realize this world belongs to them, too. There is a place at the table for us, and the beauty is that we can determine what that place looks like — how it fits us.
Miriam DeLeon, Program Manager at Google
Miriam currently serves as Program Manger at Google. In her 20 year career she has a unique blend of both IT and construction experience. Miriam joined Google Fiber in early 2014 and has served in several roles. In her most recent role, Miriam manages various projects including contract and vendor management, customer care escalations, and knowledge sharing programs. Some of her past projects include construction of fiber to the home and schedule management.
Prior to joining Google, Miriam spent 5 years as a project manager with Jamail and Smith Construction, a general contractor. She managed multiple construction project for governmental agencies such as Texas Parks and Wildlife, Dallas Forth Worth Airport, and Round Rock ISD.
Miriam earned a Master of Science in Project management from St. Edward’s University. It was there she obtained her first hands on experience as a project manager assistant with the facilities department. Prior to her career change, she was a account manager at Dell Computers for seven years. Miriam has a Bachelor or Arts in Communications and a Minor in Women Studies from Southwest Texas State, now known as Texas State.
What got you interested in helping with the planning of Future Chica?
This is a way for me to give back to the community, more importantly young women. I am in the technology field because a colleague I went to college with showed me that a career in technology was possible for me. Though her, I was able to visualize myself in a hi-tech job, and I would love to help paint that picture for other young women.
Nereyda Esparza, Global Program Manager at Facebook
Nereyda Esparza’s passion is to improve people’s lives through learning and to mentor, coach and support young women’s careers — and serving on the Future Chica Committee is the perfect opportunity for her to do both. Currently, Nereyda is a Global Program Manager at Facebook where she leads global outsourcing initiatives for its community operations team. Before Facebook, she held various roles in Customer Success at Amazon and built global education technology products at Pearson Education in New York City.
When she is not in the office you can find her at the airport! Nereyda loves to travel and has been lucky enough to live, work and study abroad in Europe and Latin America. In her spare time she dedicates her life to advocating for women and girls everywhere. She leads her local Smith College Alumnae Association chapter (250 members and growing!) and volunteers for Vote Run Lead, an org that helps women run for public office. You can catch up with Nereyda on LinkedIn or nereyesparaza.com.
Why is it important to have diversity in innovation?
Diversity is a lot more than the color of your skin or gender — it’s about coming together with unique strengths to find the best solution. To quote the formidable Dr. Mae Jemison — physician, engineer and the first black woman in space, “When people think about why it is important to have a diversity of talent in a field, they think of it as a nicety. No, it’s a necessity. We get better solutions.”
Latinitas’ Future Chica Conference is on Saturday, May 4, 2019 at Oracle. Throughout the day, girls ages 9–18 will have the opportunity to explore their own innovative ideas through the latest 21st century technologies including VR, 3D printing, drones, circuits, and more. For more information, visit futurechica.com.
