Party for Chica Power Spotlight: Honorary Chair, Angelica Erazo
Angelica embodies the raw meaning of what it means to be a trailblazer for diversity and inclusion initiatives within the Austin area. Taking both her personal and professional experiences, that of which include working for the U.S. House of Representative under Congresswoman Martha McSally and sitting on the Transportation and Sustainability Committee for the City of Austin, Angelica has helped create an inclusive and diverse culture that drives innovation and business success.
Everything in Angelica Erazo’s life growing up in Houston and studying in Washington D.C. and Austin has brought her to where she sits as Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator at Oracle, one of the world’s largest transnational enterprises now shoring a second headquarters on the banks of Austin’s east side. Angelica has been dedicated to diversity and inclusion through personal and also professional platforms since graduating from Huston-Tillotson University in 2016. Her earliest efforts to bring about this change included co-founding Huston-Tillotson’s Green is the New Black organization that continues to advocate environmental awareness by connecting minorities and college students through sustainable projects and initiatives.
Angelica has spearheaded critical talks that explore Austin’s history and its relationship to marginalized voices in its academic and professional sectors, especially technology. She did that working for Urban Co-Lab, East Austin’s incubator for entrepreneurs of color. She expressed as a guest during a series called ChangeMaker Chats that “not only is diversity the ‘right’ thing to do, but not being mindful of diversity and inclusion can hurt a business’ bottom line.” Additionally, Angelica encouraged those with privilege to use it to help others. She stated that “If you are a hiring manager, use your position to insist that HR help you find a candidate with the right skills, who would also add diversity to the team. They are out there! We just have to find them.”
Her history as an advocate aligns well with Latinitas mission to empower all girls using media and technology. She embodies Latinitas’ mission to create courageous leaders. For Latinitas’ annual fundraiser: Party for Chica Power, Angelica is mobilizing colleagues at Oracle and elsewhere to raise sponsorship and awareness about Latinitas role in securing a pipeline of new, diverse voices into the tech sector. Angelica’s creative input has launched a new level for the event: the Startup Chica level that invites Austin’s startup sector to support the next wave of tech entrepreneurs coming out of Latinitas’ clubs, camps and one day conferences.
Angelica sits on the Hispanic Quality of Life Commission, the outcome of a lengthy report on the challenges, needs, and experiences of Austin’s Latino community and assists with mobilizing and directing support towards economic sustainability, affordable housing and other issues relating to Latino Austinites. Her trailblazing efforts have been featured by outlets such Austin Business Journal, BLNDED, Austin’s Inno 25 under 25, and our own Latinitas Magazine, where she shared her personal account about coming out to her mother, a story that resonates with Latinitas’ LGBTQ community. She received the Honoree Ascendant Award at the first Austin Mosaic Awards for being a champion of how to use technology to assist underrepresented communities and the Shell Hero Award for her utilization of technology to help save over 400 lives during Hurricane Harvey. Most recently she was announced as one of the Rising Stars of the Year recipients of the Champions of Change Awards!
