August 9 marked International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Established in 1994, the day commemorates the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations. The day is celebrated across the globe with cultural performances and events to bring awareness to issues affecting the world’s Indigenous communities.

To honor this holiday, we talked with Natalie Contreras, an Adobe employee and advocate for the rights of Indigenous peoples. Natalie joined Adobe through the Adobe Digital Academy, which offers individuals from nontraditional backgrounds an accelerated path to launching successful tech careers. She now manages the Adobe Digital Academy program, including the current cohort of interns and the alumni community networks.

10/08/20 A conversation on Latinx heritage pride and starting a career in the tech industry w/ Gabriela Reyes @latinasintech Head of Marketing, Latinas in Tech and Natalie C via @hackthehood

Techqueria: Building a community for Latinos in tech industry

“One community member is Natalie Contreras, 27, a developer in computer systems. Born in the Mission District to Mexican parents, she studied anthropology and Chicano and Latin American studies. She is also an artist and considers herself a very creative person, and therefore decided to connect this with programming.

Contreras says that Techqueria’s logo was something that caught her attention, so did being able to be present in the conversation of innovation in technology. Contreras says that she feels comfortable being apart of the organization where many are immigrants—like her parents and grandparents—who come to this country by themselves and wish to be apart of it. She is happy to see Latinos supporting each other and growing as professionals.

Natalie invited her sister Andrea Contreras, 20, to the event. She hopes to find a job like her sister in the near future. Natalie and Andrea are proud of their family. Their grandparents, originally from Mexico, came to this country and picked in the fields. The sisters are very happy to be able to grow professionally, representing the Latino community.”

Hack the Hood Blog:
News and Ideas

9/13/18

Hack the Hood is turning five this year, and to celebrate this milestone we are highlighting the young people who have brought their skills and passions to our program. We'll be profiling a different young leader each month, with Natalie being our September feature

Hack the Hood

Natalie Contreras, a San Francisco native and Bay Area resident, has begun to feel the effects of gentrification and is unsure about whether she will be able to remain near her friends and family. She joined Hack the Hood's Spring 2017 bootcamp with the hopes of refining her computer skills, and ended up finding a community to support her journey in becoming a software engineer.

KBLX 106.9 Cares: Hack the Hood

https://kblx.com/kblx-cares/kblx-cares-hack-the-hood/

Sterling gets the scoop on Hack the Hood from Alumnus and Community/Career Pathways developer, Tashae Hawkins,, and Curriculum Developer, Natalie Contreras.

Hack the Hood’s mission is to empower under-resourced youth of color with the knowledge, skills, and relationships they need to pursue careers in tech. In Hack the Hood’s core Bootcamp programs, youth gain hands-on experience by building websites for local small businesses.

To learn more about Hack the Hood, head to www.hackthehood.org to subscribe to their newsletter.