About us
SOMOS.tech is a nonprofit organization committed to fostering an inclusive community for Hispanic, and Latinx, individuals and allies in the technology sector. We bridge the gap between aspiration and reality, providing resources, mentorship and networking opportunities to support a lifelong journey in tech.
We officially launched on 9/15/22 with the idea of making it easier for those in tech to build a community that transcends across companies and economic barriers, in-person and virtually. We are a proud veteran and minority volunteer led 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All our members are volunteers, and donations go straight to the community and its programs, as we have no paid employees.
EIN 92-0398538
Why the name SOMOS.tech?
The word SOMOS is Spanish and Portuguese for "we are" and tech to represent that we are tech. This idea came from having a conversation with Nathalia Dunlap, who co-founded SOMOS early in career network in the Employee Resource Group at Microsoft where she led the creation of a community for Hispanic and Latinx employees.
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Why the Astronaut?
First, there was a race to the cloud—cloud computing transformed everything. Now, with AI, Quantum Computing, and new innovations, the race goes beyond the clouds.
At SOMOS.tech, we see ourselves as explorers of the next frontier—pushing boundaries, breaking barriers, and ensuring tech is inclusive and limitless. The astronaut symbolizes curiosity, courage, and the drive to pioneer what’s next. 🚀✨
Our Team
Our team members come from varying backgrounds - from U.S. military veterans to skilled Developers, Designers, Product Managers, and Startup professionals and are all un-paid volunteers.
Our board members
Joey Cruz
CEO & Co-founder
Principal Product Manager at Microsoft
U.S. Marine Corps Veteran
Nathalia Dunlap
COO & Co-founder
Senior Product Manager at Tanium
Maho Pacheco
Chief Technology Officer
Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft
Brunella Mori
Chief Strategy Officer
Business Program Manager at Meta
Our engineering team
Juliana Destro
Director of Data Science
Principal Data Scientist at Microsoft
Fernando Serna
Director of Engineering
Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft
Kaylhan Garcia
Product Manager
Jimena Talamantes
Product Manager
Development Assistant at EarthCorps
Caio Silva
Data Scientist
Networking Support Engineer at Microsoft
Jorge Ramon Vazquez
Data Scientist
Support Engineer at Microsoft
Derek Gomez
Software Engineer
Freelance Web Developer
Erica Medina
Product Designer
Psychiatric Technician at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
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Gina Castromonte
Software Engineer
Software Engineer at Code the Dream
Our operations team
Erika Oviedo
Director of Analytics & Co-founder
Business Development Associate at Qdeck
Sandra Perez
Director of Marketing
Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft
Ruby Cisneros
Director of Communications
Director of Innovation at LA-Tech.org
Justin Ridings
Responsible AI Lead
Software Engineer at Microsoft
U.S. Army Veteran
Megan Tuano
San Francisco Chapter Co-lead
Senior Business Analyst at Accenture
Angélica Roberts
San Francisco Chapter Lead
Senior Product Designer at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Faby Zuñiga
Los Angeles Chapter Lead
Emerging Talent Recruiter at Netflix
Ivan Salazar
Los Angeles Community Program Manager
Manager of Talent Programs at LA-Tech.org
Fernando Morales
New York Chapter Co-Lead
Research Engineer at U.S. Department of Defense
Yonny Leyva
Miami, FL Chapter Lead
Data Engineer at Microsoft
Pablo Martinez
Seattle Community Program Manager
Bryan Lliguicota
New York Chapter Lead
Data Scientist at TIFIN
Jeselin Castillo
Los Angeles Chapter Co-lead
Sr. Growth Marketing Manager at Ellevest
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Jackie McPherson
Seattle Chapter Co-lead
Program Manager at Microsoft
Eduardo Ortiz
Houston Community Program Manager
Senior Privacy Technical Program Manager at Microsoft
Jose Guajardo
Houston Chapter Co-lead
Senior Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft
Tanya Garcia
Houston Chapter Lead
Ana Sanabria
Seattle Community Program Manager
Thank you to the creators
We want to acknowledge the teams that have come together to help the community by volunteering their time to create innovative and impactful applications and programs for the community.
Starting with our logo creators, Kal Walker & Jonathan Nava
Starting in tech
Software Engineers
Fernando Serna
Gina Castromonte
Tatiana Pardenilla Santos
Maho Pacheco
Joey Cruz
Designer
Macarena Morelli
Product Managers
Anesat León-Guerrero
Dallas Green
Mentorship program
Software Engineers
Derek Gomez
Gina Castromonte
Fernando Serna
Data Scientist
Juliana Destro
Jorge Ramon Vazquez
Caio Silva
Product Managers
Joey Cruz
Designer
Erica Medina
Macarena Morelli
Scholarship program
Program Managers
Iris Azzam
Nathalia Dunlap
Resume builder
Software Engineers
Yi Liu
Fernando Serna
Maho Pacheco
Data Scientist
Erandeni Juarez Lopez
Juliana Destro
Emmanuel Victorio
Josh Cubero
Product Managers
Liz Torres-Ramirez
Designer
Macarena Morelli
Thank you to our past contributors
We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who has played a role in shaping SOMOS.tech into what it is today. Your dedication and contributions have been invaluable. A special thank you to our founding team, past volunteers, board members, and strategic advisors—your vision and support have been instrumental in our journey!