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Week of November 24, 2022
DENVER, COLORADO
A publication of
VOLUME 96 | ISSUE 1
Early-season snow off to good start in high country
Latinas in Tech
Too soon to get excited, but snowpack is 140% of average BY CHRIS OUTCALT THE COLORADO SUN
Carolina Chavez a Denver chapter leader for Latinas in Tech.
Nonprofit works to change underrepresentation in STEM jobs BY SONIA GUTIERREZ ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS
Even though Latinos make up one of the largest shares of the tech-using market, they’re still underrepresented in the workplaces creating those products. Latinos are at the forefront of technology adoption. Nielson reports that Latinos are buying new technology and spending more time on social platforms than other groups. And yet, Latinos only make up just 8% of STEM workers. A nonprofit called Latinas in Tech is working to change that. With 20 chapters all over the world, their mission is to connect, support and empower
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COURTESY OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS
Latina women working in tech. With Colorado becoming a hot spot for tech giants, Latinas in Tech decided to start a chapter here. “We still notice that we have concerning statistics within the tech industry. And we’re here as a group to help lift each other up,” said Carolina Chavez, a Denver chapter leader for Latinas in Tech. Latinas in Tech just started its Colorado chapter and has already seen a lot of success. This is due in large part to the fact that the nonprofit’s members come from the same backgrounds as the people they’re trying to reach. Aimara Rodriguez is a first-generation Honduran American. She has been working in tech for 10 years and is now a platform partnership manager for Adobe’s Creative Cloud. Rodriguez is also a Denver chapter leader. “I’m very proud to say that my dad cut grass growing up and my mom
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 8 | LIFE: PAGE 10 | CALENDAR: PAGE 7
cleaned houses,” said Rodriguez. “We have that educational background to support each other and lift each other up to not only break into tech but also once you are into tech, how can we help you continue to move up and develop as a leader within the organization,” added Chavez. Chavez is an account executive working in technology sales. Most of her family works in the medical field, but Chavez decided she would take a different route. “I’m someone who likes to stay on my toes; I like constantly having to learn new things and if there’s something I can tell you for a fact is that technology is always changing so I’m never going to be a 100% expert, I’m never going to know everything, and I absolutely love that I have the ability to say that,” she said. Today’s Latino consumers didn’t
Snowpack on the Western Slope is off to a good start, but experts caution it’s difficult to draw many meaningful conclusions from snow-covered, high-country peaks this early in the season. “It’s kind of like leading a football game by a field goal halfway through the first quarter,” Jeff Lukas, an independent climate researcher, wrote in an email. As of early November, the statewide snowpack was 140% of the median from 1991 to 2020, and 142% in the Colorado River headwaters area specifically, according to SNOTEL data compiled by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The averages were slightly higher elsewhere on the Western Slope. Still, there’s a long way to go. Typically, on Nov. 9, Colorado is about 8% of the way to achieving statewide median snowpack, Lukas said. Right now, the state is about 12% of the way there, he said. But, Lukas cautioned that there’s very little correlation between mountain precipitation in October and early November and the final totals across an entire snow season.
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Hometown Holidays In this week’s paper!