Over the course of 10 weeks, Jennifer and Giselle mentored the girls on the process of designing and developing their ideas and write a business plan to pitch to VCs. In the end, their respective teams of girls presented their ideas to a panel of venture capitalists and industry leaders at regional and national pitch nights. The “National Pitch Night” took place on May 3rd, 2012 at the Intel Corporation headquarters in Santa Clara, CA.

The mission of the Technovation Challenge is to promote women in technology by giving girls the skills and confidence they need to be successful in computer science and entrepreneurship.

Jennifer and Giselle are two examples of the outstanding contributions made by SHPE professionals in the community; promoting STEM and educating young girls on becoming an entrepreneur.

If you would like to learn more about Technovation Challenge, please visit http://iridescentlearning.org/programs/technovation-challenge/

Pictures from the National Pitch Night are accessible at https://picasaweb.google.com/shpesiliconvalleyphotos/2012TechnovationNationalPitchCompetitionSiliconValley

Local high school and college students in the Silicon Valley enjoyed an exciting evening to network with young and experienced professionals in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) from various Fortune 500 companies and learned about the diverse career opportunities available within the STEM industry.

The symposium included a dynamic and exclusive leadership training led by the U.S. Army designed to help student leaders define their role within their respective organizations, and encourage them to seek out leadership roles in their schools and communities.

Diana Albarran Chicas, Sr. Antenna Program Manager at Space Systems/Local and SHPE member, joined a panel of STEM professional leaders discussing the different career paths and resources available for Latinos to enter the STEM fields. Diana shared her unique path becoming an engineer and the first member in her family to go to college and attending one of the most prestigious universities, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

On behalf of the SHPE Foundation, David Silva, co-president of the SHPE Silicon Valley professional chapter, gave opening remarks welcoming the students and professionals to the LOFT STEM Leadership Symposium and emphasized SHPE’s commitment to promoting and encouraging more young Latinos to pursue STEM careers.

Pictures from the event are available at http://www.facebook.com/hispanicheritage/photos and https://picasaweb.google.com/shpesiliconvalleyphotos/2012SantaClaraLOFTSTEMLeadershipSymposium

This event will feature the 5 W’s and the How to provide successful project delivery. What’s the route from engineer to project manager? Who is a successful project manager?…and the tools necessary to get there. In addition, the event will feature an engineering panel discussion on diversity. The obstacles and successes…Are we there yet?

It’s also a special evening to bring together SHPE and SWE members, friends, corporate and community partners that support our organizations. Enjoy appetizers, hors d’oeuvres, dessert and beverages with professionals from the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. Attire for the event is business casual.

Space is limited. RSVP today at https://sites.google.com/site/shpeswesummit2012/home

Date/Time:
Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 5:30-9:00PM

Location:
Google Headquarters
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
Event check-in will be in Building 43

Agenda:
5:30-6:30 pm Registration and Networking
6:30-6:40 pm Welcome
6:40-7:40 pm Workshop:
Project Management – The Road to Successful Delivery
– Googler Speaker, TBA
7:40-8:30 pm Engineering Panel:
Diversifying Today’s Engineering Workforce
– Cecilia Carranza Lewis, Sr. Technical Staff Member, IBM
– Arlene Mendoza, Sr. Project Engineer, Johnson Controls
– Google Speaker, TBA
8:30-9:00 pm Networking
9:00 pm Event Ends

RSVP:
https://sites.google.com/site/shpeswesummit2012/home

To the SHPE Silicon Valley Executive Board and the SHPE Community:

All great experiences must come to an end. After four amazing and fulfilling years, I knew this day would eventually come when I need to step away as President. On that note, I am leaving the United States and moving to Europe to join a start-up. Personally, it’s one of the toughest decisions I’ve had to make, but it’s the right decision so I may focus on growing my professional career that will undoubtedly impact my ability to execute the roles and responsibilities as President of this organization.

It isn’t too long ago in June 2008, I was asked to revive and bring new energy to this amazing organization deeply committed in the mission to help Latinos in the Silicon Valley by promoting professional and personal growth and bringing STEM awareness to the lives of our youth. Little did I know that together, as a board and community, we reached goals and accomplishments beyond our wildest dreams and imaginations, year after year.

In just four years, together we:

• organized consecutive years (2008-2012) of our largest community outreach event, Noche de Ciencias, with over 200 volunteers impacting the lives of nearly 600+ students and parents with sponsors such as IBM, Bank of America, PG&E, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Telemundo;
• grew the largest holiday networking mixer for three consecutive years in the Bay Area with Google;
• organized high caliber professional events such as RLDC 2011 at Stanford, Hispanic Corporate Executive Event at Symantec, and career nights with IBM, Intel and eBay;
• recognized the accomplishments of our members at our annual member appreciation event;
• established and cultivated strong, healthy partnerships with HSF, NSBE, NSHMBA, and SWE;
• rang the opening bell at NASDAQ in New York City with HITEC;
• and so much more…

I deeply cherished and enjoyed every moment along this journey. At every step, I had my closest confidant and co-president, Rosalinda Zepeda, right next to my side as we challenged each other, spending countless hours and weekends, striving for perfection and never settling on being content or satisfied.

With this letter, I hereby resign as President of SHPE Silicon Valley, effective July 1, 2012.

I strongly and unequivocally believe SHPE Silicon Valley’s brightest and most rewarding days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a different role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life through SHPE and I thank you all for the years of being able to serve you not only as president but also as a friend and member of this great community.

Sincerely,

David K. Silva
Chairman & Co-President, SHPE Silicon Valley (2008-2012)
david@shpe-sv.org
408-463-5248, 408-256-1402

=======

Download a copy of the letter here.

Jennifer is leading by example by promoting and helping cultivate a tech entrepreneurial spirit within the U.S. Latino community.

Full article at http://www.women2.org/female-founders-to-watch-latina-entrepreneurs/

VMware’s world-class, award-winning R&D team is comprised of thousands of top-notch computer scientists and software engineers that are transforming computing through virtualization. Members of the R&D team voice their creative ideas and watch them become initiatives, participate in exciting short-term and long-term products on the VMware roadmap, initiate advanced research projects, and/or write and test code that ships. At VMware, our engineers continue to learn and grow by working with top professionals from around the world and recent graduates of top universities and by taking advantage of our extensive internal training opportunities and generous external education assistance program. R&D team members work on the latest computing equipment and have access to the ACM and IEEE libraries.

Types of roles and openings available now.

Job Number / Title

• 31712 – Sr. Software engineer for AppBlast team
• 31978 – Sr. Web Developer (front end ) for Horizon team
• 31378 – Product Mgr. role with strong mobile apps development background.
• 30011 – Sr. MTS (works as a senior QA Automation Engineer)
• 31236 – Sr. MTS (works as a QE Engineer on new products in the End User Computing BU)
• 32772 – Sr. Developer and Sustaining Lead
• 33006 – MTS III (works as an end-to-end user scenario test execution and automation of an entire vCenter Site Recovery Manager & vSphere product suite)
• 31008 – MTS Networking (Border Gateway Protocol experts)

Do you have Ruby on Rails skills?
If you do, please contact Shalini Kasliwal directly at skasliwal@vmware.com

How to Apply:
Please go to http://www.vmware.com/jobs/ and enter the job number to learn more about the job and to apply.

About VMware:
VMware (NYSE: VMW) is the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, two areas that consistently rank as top priorities among CIOs. VMware delivers award-winning, customer-proven solutions that accelerate IT by reducing complexity and enabling more flexible, agile service delivery. Our solutions help organizations of all sizes, lower costs, increase business agility and ensure freedom of choice. We are searching for people who are ready to accelerate, innovate and lead to join our team of more than 11,000 employees in 40+ locations worldwide working to develop innovative solutions that deliver the future of IT through cloud computing. Having the audacity to challenge constraints and problem-solve for tomorrow starts today, and it starts with you. Learn more at www.vmware.com/careers.

Santa Clara University
Benson Memorial Center
Benson Parlors
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012
5.30 p.m. – 8.30 p.m.

This is an exciting opportunity for students in high school, college, and young professionals to network with Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) professionals from Fortune 500 companies and learn about the diverse career opportunities available within the STEM Industry.

Come prepared to engage in:

*A dynamic and exclusive Leadership Training led by the U.S. Army. This Leadership training is designed to help student leaders define their role within their respective organizations, and encourage them to seek out leadership roles in their schools and communities.

*An insightful panel of STEM professionals showcasing their different careers paths, and the different resources and opportunities available for Latinos to enter the STEM fields.

*An opportunity to Network with STEM professionals and other emerging Latino leaders interested in STEM.

*Sponsor Give Aways/Raffle: All attendees will enter a raffle to win a free Round trip Southwest ticket to any Southwest destination of your choice. The winner will be announced during the coffee break. Additional sponsor give aways will also take place.

RSVP: http://bit.ly/J73sT1

*There is no cost to register for the event.

Dress code: business casual.
Food and refreshments will be provided

Agenda
• 5:30 – 6:00 pm Registration & Welcome Reception
• 6:00 – 6:10 pm Opening remarks
• 6:10 – 6:40 pm Army Leadership Presentation
• 6:40 – 6:55 pm Break, Career Table, Networking
• 6:55 – 7:55 pm STEM Panel Presentation
• 7:55 – 8:00 pm Participant Survey
• 8:00 – 8:02 pm Closing remarks
• 8:02 – 8:30 pm Networking, Event Closes

Contact: Jessica Barajas at Jessica@hispanicheritage.org

In other words, individuals that are influential, energetic, passionate, and committed are the outstanding qualities that Jose Cuervo Platino wants to recognize.

You’re invited to nominate Latinos and Latinas whom you believe are deserving of this recognition. Deadline for nominations is Wednesday, April 18th. Award winners will be recognized at the Blue Carpet Event hosted by Jose Cuervo on May 2nd.

To nominate a person, please visit http://bayarealatinoprofessionals.weebly.com/upcoming-event.html

Nominate a deserving Latino/a leader today so we can recognize their accomplishments in the San Francisco Bay Area.

EVENT DETAILS
When: Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Where: Cigar Bar
850 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
Time: 6pm – 9pm

ELIGIBILITY
Nominees must be Latino and residing in the San Francisco Bay Area

AWARD CRITERIA
Through their contributions, nominees must have been an influential role model and have shown continuous direct and effective involvement in the Latino community. This award seeks to recognize individuals in the following key areas:

• Professional Achievement / Entrepreneurship – Leader who has risen the ranks in their corporation to a minimum of director/vice president level and holds substantial responsibility in the form of employee management or budget oversight. Must be an active promoter of Latino culture and employees within his or her company through employee resource groups or professional associations. OR leader who has made a significant contribution in the creation and growth of their startup or small organization. Has an inventive spirit that pushes boundaries and solves problems in new and exciting ways while promoting the inclusion and well-being of the Latino community.
• Comunity Service – Leader who has been instrumental in improving the lives of the San Francisco Bay Area’s Latino community. Campaigns for issues and/or has developed innovative programs that promote the inclusion and well-being of the Latino community. Serve as an advocate to promote Latino culture in a positive light.
• Leadership – Through exemplary leadership, has contributed towards a specific goal or objective that has benefited the Latino community and/or has been a role model in their profession/work. This individual promotes education, career advancement, and unity among the Latino community; an influential leader who is an inspiration.

IMPORTANT
Nominations must be accompanied by a justification statement that concisely describes how the nominee has made outstanding personal actions and how their contributions have impacted the Latino Community. Please submit a bio and a high resolution headshot of your nominee to info@sanfrancisco.alpfa.org

We’re looking for 3-4 engineering professionals to volunteer and interview their student members one-on-one for about 15 minutes each. Students will bring their resumes and dress in business casual attire.

Water and snacks will also be provided.

If you have any questions and/or would like to volunteer, please contact the SCU SHPE chapter leader, Lizzie Mercado at m10lizzie@gmail.com.

Details
Date: Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Time: 6:30PM-8:00PM
Location: Santa Clara University – Engineering Building – Room 304
Contact Person: Lizzie Mercado – m10lizzie@gmail.com

Intel is hosting a hiring event in Santa Clara on April 5th and 6th. To register for the event, apply to their event specific job requisition athttp://www.intel.com/jobs/jobsearch/index.htm?job=617925&src=CFE-12582. If you’re skills match to open positions, they’ll send you an invite to the event.

Please refer to the event flyer available at http://shpe-sv.org/events/Intel_Career_Event_WW14.pdf.

Any additional questions, please contact Tiffany Alires at tiffany.j.alires@intel.com