Chicapreneurs: Latinas in Technology

Women may make up the majority of online users, trendsetters, and consumers, but we have a long way to go to reach proportionate amounts in the field of technology. A 2009 study indicated that Latinas formed only 5% of entry level technology jobs and zero percent at the highest levels – CEO and CTO.Despite these low numbers, we have tracked down some of the leading Latinas in technology that are harnessing their entrepreneurial spirit to create innovative companies and products and encouraging others to do the same.

Presenters

Becky Arreaga

Pres

Mercury Mambo

Agency President Becky Arreaga, along with business partners Liz Arreaga (also her sister) and Lynn Currie, formed Hispanic marketing agency Mercury Mambo in 1999. Headquartered in Austin, TX, Mercury Mambo specializes in developing targeted shopper, experiential and digital campaigns designed to drive sales at the point "Where Commerce & Culture Collide!". Current clients include 7-Eleven, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Fiesta San Antonio Commission, ooVoo Video Chat, MINI USA, and Vilore.
Becky earned a BA from Texas Tech University and a Masters in Advertising at The University of Texas at Austin. Becky currently serves on the National Board of Directors of the College of Mass Communications at Texas Tech University and the Board of Directors for the United Way for a Greater Austin. In addition, Becky is an award-winning graphic designer, having won 3rd place in her third grade fire prevention poster contest.

Rebecca Gonzales

Founder

ID Marketing and Communications

Rebecca Gonzales is the founder of ID Marketing and Communications. She has more than 15 years of marketing experience.

In addition to her role at ID, Rebecca recently became the Assistant Executive Director of AVINDĒ, a non-profit women's entrepreneurship accelerator in Austin. Rebecca is a founding steering committee member of the IMPACT Texas Summit on Impact Investing and Social Entrepreneurship. The inaugural event took place Jan 9-10, 2014 and brought together over 250 social entrepreneurs, investors, non-profits, and philanthropists. The goal of the event is to begin a community across Texas that is dedicated to using entrepreneurship and capital to fight the social problems plaguing society.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Rebecca spent nearly 20 years in high tech. In her tenure in the technology industry, Rebecca launched products, planned and executed marketing strategies, and executed marketing programs around the world. While working for Dell Computer, Rebecca became the program manager for the Dell TechKnow program, Dell’s first corporate philanthropy program with K12 schools. It was then when she realized that philanthropy extended well beyond the boundaries of non-profit organizations. In 2005, while at AMD, Rebecca was the relationship manager of Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop per Child initiative at MIT. Rebecca traveled the world with the OLPC team speaking to heads of state in the developing world to share with them the benefits of technology. It was then she made the connection that corporations could be profitable while doing good in the world.

Rebecca has her BA in Journalism from Southern Methodist University and an Institute for Managerial Leadership Certificate from the McCombs School of Business Executive Education at UT.