Angelique Taloyo (she/her)
IT Resident, Google
Brenna Bustamante (she/her)
Brenna is a content strategist at Google Play and a traveler / adventurer the rest of the time. She loves scuba diving, backpacking and the outdoors and absolutely loves her two dogs, Mojo and Nacho.
“Coming from the Philippines, Google was sort of a legend I never thought I’d get into. I had a running joke with my boss back then that I was going to move to California and join Google, but I never thought it would actually happen. After months of looking for a job, and working for a company that didn’t treat me right, I got a call for a position as a contractor at Google. Then after 7 months at that position and 9 months in another, I got converted to a full-time employee. I was so proud of myself and couldn’t believe I’d actually done it!”
Hana Gabrielle Rubio Bidon (she/her)
Hana Gabrielle Bidon is a sophomore at Cornell University, intending to major in Information Science, Systems, and Technology. One day, she decided to attend an event about data science and she immediately fell in love with the field, as it utilized both mathematics and computer science skills. Though she has yet to decide which career path she wants to dive deeper into, she’s considering business analytics, data analytics, data science, and data engineering.
Outside of academics, Hana is heavily involved with Cornell Minds Matter, which is a mental health organization that strives to promote the overall well being of Cornellians. She’s part of the organization’s policy team, in which she’s leading an initiative to create a Mental Health 101 presentation for freshman orientation. Through her work with Cornell Minds Matter, she’s actively advocating for mental health and interested in the intersection of technology and mental health.
Furthermore, Hana is an active member of Women in Computing at Cornell. Since discovering her passion for computing in her first CS class, she felt intimidated by the fact that many of her peers had been coding since high school. Fortunately, she’s found a community of other women in computing fields, with whom she bonds by participating in networking events, social events, and volunteering for the Girls Who Code program.
In addition to these extracurricular activities, she is a Crisis Counselor at the Crisis Text Line. Applying her personal experiences with mental health challenges, including dealing with panic attacks and suicidal thoughts, along with rigorous training, Hana is able to help others who are in crisis and in extreme emotional and behavioral stress.
What’s something you’re really proud of?
In January 2018, after having been hospitalized twice and having been in a toxic relationship, I took care of my mental health by taking a two-semester leave of absence from Cornell. Though it was an impulsive decision, I’m glad that I took that time off from school to focus on my mental health issues and got the right care for myself from both a therapist and a psychiatrist. Though I am no longer working with them, it’s great to know that I’m able to apply what I learned from those therapy sessions to my current life as a Cornell student.
What’s a challenge you’ve faced, and how did you handle it?
Adjusting back to life as a Cornell student after my mental health leave has been challenging. Taking a leave of absence was disorienting. I lost much of my friend circle during that time and had trouble making new friends through my classes and clubs. As an autistic person, it’s difficult for me to maintain friendships and socially interacting with my peers and my professors does not come easily.
So far, I’ve been working through this challenge by actively meeting new people, joining a mentorship circle for Women in Computing at Cornell, and by chatting with other members of Cornell Minds Matter. I’ve also started to have lunch every Thursday with one of my professors. Overall, it’s a work in progress but I’m slowly adjusting back to Cornell beautifully by using my resources, talking to my advisors, and connecting with both new and old friends.
Entrepreneurs in the Developing World
Compiled in partnership with the Grameen Foundation
Silicon Valley’s definition of “entrepreneur” can be very narrow. It often invokes images of young professionals scrambling to raise VC funding, but in reality the definition of an entrepreneur is anyone who starts and operates a business, often taking on great financial risk to do so. In an effort to expand the notion of what makes an entrepreneur, over the course of the past month Women of Silicon Valley has been featuring women entrepreneurs in developing economies of Kenya, India, and the Philippines. These women are all beneficiaries of the Grameen Foundation, a global nonprofit that empowers the poor, especially women, to grow their livelihoods and community presence through digital micro-financial services.
Through these profiles, we hope that you’ll find a new perspective on what it means to start a business, see the far-reaching and transformative power of technology and financial empowerment, and feel inspired by the diversity and strength of female entrepreneurs around the world.
Alice Musau | Kenya
Alice is married and lives with her husband and three children.
“For several years, I ran a small shop in a town near my home in Machakos. But the hours were long and it was hard to turn a profit. I constantly had to ask my husband for money to invest in the business, and I hardly saw my three children. We had some land and a few livestock near the home so I turned to farming.
A neighbor told me about Musoni Kenya, a local microlender, and I was able to buy five chicks with my first loan, which over time built up to a flock of 200 birds that produced almost five trays of eggs. I slowly expanded my farm to goats, rabbits, guinea fowl and vegetables. I’m proud that I have been able to build up my farm on my own. And working closer to home has allowed me to spend more time with my children.”
Cristita Florentino | Philippines
Cristita is married with six children and lives in Western Visayas, Philippines. She runs a food stall and also manages a farm. Three of her children are married, while the others still live at home. Her husband has a sidewalk watch repair business.
“My hard work has all been for my six children. The money I earn from my food stall and farm has allowed me to educate them. The Philippines gets hit with at least 10 typhoons per year, and drought is also a problem. A few years ago, there was a particularly tough dry season. I wasn’t sure my coconut and cacao plants would survive. Text alerts from Grameen Foundation’s FarmerLink system guided me through preventative measures, like mulching and using dried leaves as organic fertilizer. I inherited my farm from my parents and I’m proud that I’ve been able to slowly build a thriving business.”
Jane Nyambura | Kenya
Jane Nyambura is a 43-year old mother, wife and farmer in rural Kenya. She lives with her husband, three sons and an adopted daughter whose mother has passed on. Though she was an eager student and wanted to become a lawyer, her parents could not afford to educate her beyond elementary school.
“One of my biggest struggles has been educating my children. I wanted to be a lawyer but did not get the opportunity to continue past elementary school. I was disappointed when I couldn’t continue my education, but I’m determined to give my children better opportunities. My second son, Peter, is already in university, while the youngest, Nathan, is in high school. Isabel is in elementary school. It’s been difficult. I pay more than $3,000 annually in school fees, as well as for the boys’ boarding near their schools (more than 13 miles away). I found a solution through Musoni, a local microlender that partnered with Grameen Foundation to create a special digital loan for farmers. I bought a cow with the loan and now earn $2,500 per year just from selling milk — enough to cover the bulk of my children’s school fees. I am proud that my three sons have already reached further in their education than I did. And I’m pleased that I was able to give Isabel a stable life after her mother died. I am educating my children to be what they want in life so that they have a better life than me.”
Rukma Chaudhary | India
Rukma Chaudhary is 34 years old, married and excitedly expecting her first child. Both she and her husband have disabilities. (She has dwarfism, and he is unable to walk upright because of polio) but refuse to let that stop them from pursuing their dreams. She studied fashion design (where she met her husband) and stitches blouses and dresses.
“My lifelong challenge has been getting people to see beyond my disability. Walking is difficult for me, and my overall mobility can be challenging. I just want to be treated with respect, not pity, and I’m determined to show others what I’m capable of. I’m incredibly proud to have graduated at the top of my fashion design program. I’ve already begun chipping away at people’s preconceptions by excelling in my education and my work. Now I’ve become a role model in my community.”
Venus Santos | Philippines
Venus Santos lives with her husband and two children in Paco, Manila, Philippines. She runs a sari-sari (variety) shop with her husband. Her son is grown and her daughter is in high school.
“My family depends on the income from our sari-sari and side businesses to survive. My family and I moved to Paco, Manila, just over a decade ago to give my children better opportunities. Restarting was tough, but I worked hard. So it was quite disappointing when my son had to drop out of university because we didn’t have enough money. I was determined to avoid the same for my daughter. I joined Grameen Foundation’s Community Agent Network (CAN) to earn money to pay for her tuition at a private high school. I help my neighbors transfer money using a digital terminal in my shop, which saves them having to travel to payment centers much further away. My shop has now become a popular spot, and my husband and I take turns working to provide almost 24-hour service.”
Dileshwara Thakare | India
Dileshwara Thakare is a widowed mother of one daughter. Her husband died about two years ago leaving her with very little to care for her family.
“When my husband died, I had very few options. I had spent all of our money on medicines and treatment for him and was desperate to support my family and keep my daughter in school. I rented a small room for the two of us and set about rebuilding our lives.
I now have two jobs: cooking breakfast for four families and working as a Grameen Mitra in the afternoon, training others in the community on how to access and use digital financial services. I hate doing household work for other families as it brings me little respect or money. I think becoming a Mitra has helped elevate my standing in the community. And I’m extremely proud that I’ve been able to keep my daughter in school. I know girls are often forced to leave school when their fathers die.”
Madhuri Dhotarkar | India
Madhuri is married with one child. She began her career in tailoring at age 15 to help her widowed mother.
“When I was 15, I faced a dilemma. My father had died, and I wanted to help my mother support the family but multiple relatives objected to me working outside the house. Watching my mother toil to give our family two meals each day was my greatest motivation. I was determined to never leave my life to fate. With my mother’s blessing, I persevered. I learned to sew and soon began offering my services around the village. After I underwent formal training, it became a full-fledged business. I’m proud that my daughter now sees me as a role model.”
Edna Bacquiano | Philippines
Edna Bacquiano lives in Davao City, Philippines, with her husband and two young children. She manages a five-acre farm, growing mainly coconuts, cacao bananas . Her husband transports goods for a businessman and is often gone for long stretches.
“My biggest challenge has been juggling the daily needs of my family and my farm. My farm is five acres, and I usually tend it all on my own, with occasional help from my brother and temporary laborers. My husband works long hours transporting goods, which leaves me most of the childcare and household responsibilities. I have adopted a strict routine and segment my tasks on the farm so that I’m not overwhelmed. Most days I tackle pruning and fertilizing just the cacao trees in the morning, then turn my attention to the coconut trees in the afternoon.”
Varsha Dhurve | India
Varsha is a widowed mother of two school-age children. She earns more of her income selling vegetables.
“I’m proud that I’ve been able to overcome my husband’s death. He was the main breadwinner, and I struggled to support my son and daughter. I got a microloan from a local lender to start a vegetable shop in my community. The income has kept my family afloat and my children in school for several years. I want to equip all women with the knowledge to face life’s challenges without learning it the hard way like I had to. I recently became a Grameen Mitra to teach other women in my community how to make digital financial transactions and access government services. Now I’m experimenting with sales techniques, like using QR codes for my vegetable business and encouraging clients to pay me digitally instead of in cash.”
Samata | Ghana
Samata is married with four children and lives in southern Ghana. She and her husband are farmers and cultivate land they rent from a local landowner.
“My husband Idrissu and I labored for nine years to build our farm. We couldn’t afford to buy our own land, so we had to rent from a landowner — who then restricted what we could plant and harvest. The meager harvests made it difficult to feed our four children, much less invest in a one-acre farm.
Our turning point was meeting an agricultural advisor trained by Grameen Foundation. He helped us create a plan to develop the land, as well as taught us new planting methods like agrochemicals. Our harvest of maize tripled the following year, which let us rent two more acres of land. Before I switched to the new farming plan, I could scarcely afford to educate my children. Now I am proud because my three older children are heading to school. And I can even afford to pay for extra lessons for them!”
Vandana Thitare | India
Vandana is married with two children. She runs a stitching business in her village.
“I was never content with being a housewife. I wanted to earn my own money and be independent. So when I heard about Grameen Foundation’s Mitra program, I was determined to join. I had never used a smartphone before, but I knew it was important to learn because of the new digital services across India. But first, I needed a phone. I earned my down payment by picking cotton in scorching 122 degrees Fahrenheit weather. I now pay my monthly installments using the money I earn as a Grameen Mitra and from my stitching business. I’m proud I ignored the naysayers who told me not to become a Mitra; people now see me as not just a mother and a wife, but an independent woman.”
Elizabeth Wainaina | Kenya
Elizabeth Wainaina, 62, is married with four children. Her main income over the last 40 years has come from selling clothes. She recently began farming to help increase her income and save for her later years.
“I have supported my family for 40 years by selling clothes; I was often the only breadwinner, but I was determined to ensure my children graduated from high school. Now at age 62, I want to make sure I have enough money to take care of my family when I can’t work anymore. I learned about Musoni, a local microfinance lender, through a local women’s group and turned to them for help. I received loans to support my clothing business and to purchase a cow and goat. Now I earn money selling milk and livestock. I’m proud that I no longer have to struggle to support my family. And now that my farming business is profitable, I plan to add a small shop to the front of my house.”
Anne | Kenya
Anne is married and lives with her husband.
“Political violence forced me and my family to leave our home in Kenya. After we resettled in a new community, I tried to restart farming to support the family. My husband also worked odd jobs around the new village to pay the bills. There was one good thing about my move: it gave me the chance to finally apply for a Kilimo Booster agricultural loan at my local Musoni Kenya branch. I finally had enough money to invest in quality seeds and other resources I needed. I’ve expanded my farm from one to four acres. I’m proud that I’ve inspired other women to apply for loans and grow their small farms into successful businesses.”
Mika Reyes (she/her)
Mika is currently a part of Dorm Room Fund’s Female Founder Track and will soon be joining LinkedIn as a Product Manager. She was born and raised in the Philippines and studied Economics, Psychology & Data Analysis at Wesleyan University. Professionally, she was previously a KPCB Product Fellow and was the first Product Manager at Ripcord and Kumu. Her mission is to grow the tech & innovation hubs in Southeast Asian markets (starting with her home, the Philippines). She is exploring this through marketplace models that empower the ‘micro-entrepreneur’ and technology that improves accessibility to economic resources. Mika enjoys Latin or hip hop dance, writes occasionally on her blog (mikareyes.com), and loves snacking on almonds.
“The idea that I may not be home for Christmas this year, for the first time ever, makes me really sad. Christmas is a phenomenon in the Philippines; it’s a time for reunion and partying. It’s karaoke season for Christmas songs. It’s food coma. But most importantly, it’s the best time to be with family, immediate and extended. I think a lot about how Christmas can be a pain point for the whole Filipino diaspora. Thousands of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) sacrifice being with their families every Christmas so they can provide for them in more lucrative jobs abroad. I’m lucky; I don’t have to carry that weight on my shoulders, and if anything, this would be my first Christmas without my family ever. Imagine all the Filipinas who’ve been separated from their children for years! If my personal sacrifice this season means working for a company that works to provide economic opportunity for people like OFWs, I can hold off the lechon a while longer.”
Marizza Delgado (she/her)
Marizza is a 20 year old full time college student and part-time fashion model. She hopes to pursue a career in Data Analysis and advocates for women in STEM. Marizza is represented by Stars Model Management in San Francisco and Marilyn Agency in New York City. After modeling full time for a year, she has moved back home to finish college and currently resides in the San Francisco Bay area.
“Professionally, I’m proud of having modeled for brands such as L’oreal, Macy’s, Target, Walmart, Fenty Beauty, and Marie Claire Magazine. All my clients are special to me, but one of my greatest achievements, as far as modeling goes, was walking in New York Fashion Week!”
Lea Coligado (she/her)
Founder, Women of Silicon Valley & Software Engineer, Google Maps
“My Lolo passed away this year, and I realized we’d never get to go to the place he’s from, Cebu, and share it together. I realized how integral sacrifice is to the Filipino experience. My Lolo and Lola sacrificed life in the Philippines, a future sharing the same childhood places as their children and grandchildren, for job opportunities in the United States. Then my dad sacrificed years of long, often 12-hour, work days to put me and my brother through college. So my success — my Stanford Computer Science degree and my Google software engineering job — are just the sum of all the sacrifices made before me, aggregated from generation to generation. And yet, I think so often about how no matter how much success I aggregate, nothing can “buy me out” of being treated like a Filipina in this world. When I visited Hong Kong, a Chinese family mistook me for their house servant and ordered me to wipe down their dirty shoes at the mall. When I moved to Italy for work, I was always assumed to be a housemaid, or sometimes a prostitute, and was propositioned for sex multiple times while walking home at night (in a pantsuit mind you). The sad truth is I’m lucky; millions of Filipinos sacrifice life with their own families at home to take care of other, wealthier families abroad, often in places where they are treated subhuman or trafficked. This informs a lot of the “sacrifice” I want to make when I’m older — that is, building a rigorous software platform to help overseas Filipinxs find secure, vetted work.”
Larissa Purnell (she/her)
Larissa is a Product Analyst for Rally Health, a digital health company. She received her B.S. in Business Administration with concentrations in Health Policy & Management and Digital Studies from the University of Southern California. She discovered her passion for the future design of the healthcare experience during a college internship at Kaiser Permanente and has worked in health technology ever since. Her experiences in this area include working at an international startup, a design firm, and partaking in the Technology Development program at Optum (part of UnitedHealth Group). Her passion for helping people live healthier lives also seeps into how she uses her free time: DJing for a high intensity cardio hip-hop class called 305 Fitness, serving as an Emerging Leadership Ambassador for Boston Healthcare for Homeless, and advising a Spanish startup, Medvisit, focused on bringing patient care to ex-pat communities globally.
“Throughout middle school and high school, my father experienced tremendous pain, both physically and mentally, and had felt that he wasn’t being heard by his care team, who simply attributed his condition to his obesity. During my sophomore year, my family switched healthcare providers to Kaiser Permanente and his physician immediately recognized that he had been misdiagnosed and, in fact, had a genetic disorder that had contributed to his obesity and required immediate attention, including multiple surgeries and genetic testing for his immediate family.
Throughout this experience, particularly when he was facing the threatening surgical procedures, I felt helpless. Then, I began to realize that I could take action on trying to make an impact on the system that had prolonged his illness. I signed up for the USC Marathon Team as a way to commit myself to supporting my Dad through intensive training, since I couldn’t be right beside him during his surgeries and recovery. I took on a second minor in Health Policy and Management to learn about the healthcare system and the ways in which I could have an impact. I applied for an internship at Kaiser Permanente, as their care model was what helped save my dad and put our family’s trust back into the system. By the start of my junior year, I had discovered a field that I was passionate to grow a career in, completed my first marathon, and most importantly inspired my dad to start training in his recovery to run his own half-marathon (which he’ll be completing this December!).”
Kristian Kabuay (he/him)
Kristian is an artist/entrepreneur specializing in an endangered writing system from the Philippines. As a leading authority for the propagation and instruction of a prePhilippine script, he launched his own edutainment business specializing in custom art, books, events, and apparel. Kristian has spoken around the world at museums, schools, and businesses. He is currently working on his 5th book, a documentary, and an education startup.
“I’m proud of the platform that I’ve created around this endangered writing system of the Philippines. What started out as a curiosity, a hobby, and then a side gig, eventually turned into something bigger than myself. Because of it, I’ve been able to travel, meet awesome people, learn, help others, and prove that our culture can also be economically beneficial. One challenge I had in this journey was getting over my dislike for speaking in front of people. Growing up, I was quiet and would instead let others take the lead in everything. To achieve my goal of propagating the script, I had to talk to the public at festivals and schools. I had to learn through trial and error what messages resonated with people and just get over myself. Overcoming this barrier ultimately led to me speaking at a TEDx event earlier this year.”
Kassandra Kristoff (she/her)
Kassandra is a Communications Manager at Google. Prior to transitioning into tech, she was an Engineering Officer in the United States Navy for 6 years. As her father was also in the Navy and her mother is from the Philippines, she grew up all over the world. After serving in the Navy, she became a stay at home mom of two, while completing her MBA. Shortly after, she finally had the opportunity to pursue her passion for communications after moving to the Bay Area.
“My mother is the strongest person I know. She believed nothing could hold me back and pushed me to pursue whatever I wanted. So I served in the Navy on a ship with mostly men, then stepped into an unknown career path in tech with two little kids in tow — all while pursuing a Masters. Having my mother’s strength really carried me through all the risks. Now I’m really proud I’ve leveraged my strength as a Filipina; when I put my mind to something, I do all I can to do it. Being here at Google, I look around me and realize how many “good risks” I’ve taken.”
Jessica Valenzuela (she/her)
Jessica is an entrepreneur and the founder of the angel-backed startup GoGoGuest. She was born and raised in the Philippines and is a first generation naturalized American citizen. She has lived in Chicago, New York City and San Francisco. Prior to pursuing a career in entrepreneurship, Jessica held leadership roles in product marketing and digital marketing at Kaplan Inc., Young & Rubicam, Tribal DDB and Ogilvy. She also led and delivered projects at Square and Logitech. Jessica is a natural adventurer who loves discovering and exploring cities and nature. She brings Mister Beckham, her jack russell along with her whenever possible.
“Let’s be honest, women entrepreneurs focused on building and growing a technology product is a land mine of challenges regardless of your heritage. Fundraising at any stage is more difficult for women but the real difficulty comes when it is time to raise your first institutional round — from venture capital. Venture capital and their LPs are mostly from of the 1% richest households in America that own 40% of the country’s wealth. There is a natural tendency among these circles to invest in people who are like them, specifically from their university alma mater or company alumni. In venture capital world, it is called the “flywheel effect.” There is clearly a smaller pool of opportunity for Filipino-American women in the technology space. This means, a smaller flywheel effect, if any. I hope to be an active participant in changing this ratio.”
Janna Jalla Umetin (she/her)
Janna currently works as a Technical Recruiter, focused on bringing Software Engineering talent to Google. She is a first generation Filipino American, born in and raised in a small town in the Visayas region of the Philippines and now residing in Seattle, WA. She graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and a Diversity Minor. She spends her free time enjoying the unique cuisine around Seattle and practices Tahitian and Hula dance. You may find her personal blog at https://heyguesswhatbyjannajalla.wordpress.com/.
“I had no idea how I was going to go to college — no one in my family had done it before. All I knew was that I had to get there somehow, and have a job waiting for me at the finish line. I remember being a junior in high school and seeing all my friends start going on college tours, submitting applications, knowing how to do it all. I didn’t even know what the FAFSA was. So, I asked for help — a lot of it. My parents trusted me to be able to get myself where I needed to be, and they supported me emotionally. But everything else was through the sheer will of knowing a college education would open doors for me.”
Geronimo Carlo Ramos III (he/him)
Geronimo is a designer and social entrepreneur with a passion for building products, programs, and experiences that create more equitable communities. He is founder of Rooted Table (YC SS18) which creates economic opportunity for immigrants and disadvantaged communities through the sharing of home cooked meal experiences. Originally from Los Angeles, he has lived and worked on projects in Kenya, Panama, Spain, and Washington, D.C.
“At the beginning of 2017, I began the job hunt. I set out to apply to X companies and practice Y whiteboard design challenges per week. I was excited because my portfolio was impressing hiring managers and landing me interviews at both early-stage startups and large tech companies. I thought I was killing it, landing all these interviews. And then month 3 rolled by, and all I had collected was a pile of rejections and no offers. I was losing steam. Even more frightening, I was running out of money to pay for rent. I had been out of a full-time job for nearly a year. After sharing my fears with a loving group of friends, they reminded me that it wasn’t because I’m not a good designer or that I lack the skills; it just wasn’t a good fit. Month 6 rolled by, and it was my final stretch. After applying to 215+ companies, having 70+ interviews, 10+ design challenges, 7+ onsite white board design challenges, and 3+ companies exploiting my design skills, I FINALLY LANDED A FULL-TIME JOB THAT FIT. I joined a rocket ship marketplace startup that aligned with the marketplace startup I wanted to build.”
Em Margaret Marin (she/her)
Em is a senior at Georgia Tech studying Computer Science with concentrations in Artificial Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction. She was a part of Google’s Computer Science Summer Institute in 2015, worked as an Android Developer at a student-led startup, and interned as both a Product Manager and Software Engineer at Microsoft over the course of three summers. On campus, Em helped found Girls Who Code at Georgia Tech and works with HackGT, organizing the largest hackathon in the southeast and hosting STEAM exposure events for underserved high schoolers in the Atlanta area.
“When I first started college, I knew very little about my background. I remember sitting down with a friend who also grew up being one of the few Filipinxs in their community. We bonded over the fact that we couldn’t speak Tagalog, that we felt alienated from our culture, that our parents were inconceivably strong for immigrating here, and that we had an insatiable desire to learn more about who we were. It wasn’t until I met first-generation Filipinx-Americans in college that I began to really explore my history.
The Filipinx-American experience is a confusing one. We battle with understanding our place in the American tapestry of heritages, and even our own culture, which is already a melting pot of cultural influences from our Indigenous tribes to Spanish colonists to various other migrants from Southeast Asia. We lack representation in spaces like tech and Hollywood and we never learn about our history in school, despite heavy and intricate Filipinx involvement in American history — from being the first Asian immigrants to the States through Morro Bay to the Philippines being an American colony to our signifcant contributions to the American labor movement of the 1960’s. Despite our erasure, we bind together as a community, finding comfort in our history and identity.”
Diana Kris Navarro (she/her)
Diana is currently a software engineer at Tumblr. She was in the founding class of Girls Who Code in 2012, a hackNY fellow in 2017, and was recently featured in GWC’s Sisterh>>d campaign for Day of the Girl. She has previously interned at Adobe, Qualcomm and Gilt Groupe. Last May, she became the first person in her family to graduate from college. She was born and raised in Jersey City, NJ to an immigrant single mother. She attended grade school in Westchester New York to stay with her mother who is a live-in housekeeper. She is now 22 years old and lives in New York City.
“In the 2nd grade, I was forced to move from Jersey City to the house of a wealthy family in Westchester, New York, where my mom worked as their live-in housekeeper. My life turned upside down. I was suddenly living in this huge house that my mom worked in, and we’d take the train back to Jersey City every weekend. I did this until I was 18 years old. I went from an elementary school in Jersey City where most of the students were Filipino, Black, or Latinx, to Siwanoy Elementary School, where I could count the number of non-white students on one hand. Needless to say, I didn’t fit in. I was bullied and excluded. Parents knew me as “the girl whose mom’s a housekeeper.” I actually wasn’t even allowed to go to that public school, but my mom’s boss pulled strings. What got me through it all was my mom. Every day she’d remind me that this was temporary, and that one of the ways I could get out of our situation was doing well in school. And that’s exactly what I did. I took several AP classes, got straight A’s, and landed high school internships. I clawed my way out. I’m so grateful for my mom. She taught me how to deal with people. She taught me empathy. She taught me how to work.”
Chiara Amisola (she/her)
Chiara is a freshman at Yale University from Manila, Philippines. Chiara is an activist, developer, and President and Founder of Developers’ Society, a global nonprofit nurturing student-led innovation and advancing computer science education in the developing world, which has impacted over 55,000 students across 10+ countries. Her startup, Batid, develops sociopolitical software to combat a volatile government administration and climate in the Philippines and has been awarded and recognized internationally. She was recently awarded the Student of Vision Abie Award on the Grace Hopper Celebration keynote stage.
“I founded Developers’ Society in 2016, originally a high school club to make videogames that soon pivoted into a massive organization across Luzon rooted in students helping out other students: beyond any economic, cultural, or gender barriers. We created resources and poured pocket money into events, resources, and gatherings to spread computer science and equalize an industry that we believe every member of the youth deserves to be a part of.
Two years later, we find ourselves global, recognized by groups all around the Philippines, and most notably: on the Grace Hopper Celebration keynote stage. We’re doing a lot of work to fulfill a huge gap in technology in a developing world like the Philippines, and it’s simply fueled by our desire to leave no one behind. Education and accessibility in the country I call home, and other nations that don’t normally come to mind when we think about tech, is crucially important. This edge of representation is something that I always seek to further.”
Charlene Granadosin (she/her)
Charlene currently works for Medidata Solutions as a Sr. Test Engineer. She has 8 years of experience in software testing, having previously worked as a QA Manager at Capital One and Lead QA at LogicEase Solutions. She recently spoke at the Appium Conference in London.
“My mother and my grandmother are two beautiful, strong, and independent women who raised children on their own while achieving the goals they set out for themselves. We Filipinos have a lot of pride in our culture and I have a lot of pride in Filipino Women. I saw my mother work a full 40 hour week, have piano lessons afterwards, and then cook dinner when she got home. I learned hard work and perseverance through my mother, and now that I have a daughter of my own, I am hoping to pass that strength and work ethic on to her.”
Arille Jeriza Stutler (she/her)
Arille is a solutions consultant at Google, focusing on Google Play business operations. She has 7+ years of operations experience at the company, and has previously worked in both Cloud (enterprise) and consumer-facing teams. She was born and raised in San Jose, and studied Bioengineering at Santa Clara University. She had an undergraduate marketing internship at eSilicon Corporation, which unintentionally was the catalyst for shifting her career interests to the world of business. Since high school, Arille has been a strong advocate for programs encouraging women and minorities to explore STEM fields, and she’s actively involved in volunteering through one of Google’s employee resource groups, the Filipino Googler Network. Outside of work, you can catch her cooking new recipes, spending time with family and husband Brent, and playing with her Shih Tzu, Yana.
“‘Why are you here? There’s a cheerleading camp next door.’
It’s been twelve years since my classmate made this comment to me, after I’d shared with him I was struggling to understand a coding concept. As one of the handful of girls at the high school robotics camp, this casual remark made by one of my “friends” took me by surprise. It shook my confidence. Was it a mistake thinking I could actually do this? Will I ever measure to compete? Maybe he felt I’d brush off his remark as a joke. Little did he (and I) know, after slowly picking myself back up with the encouraging words of my parents, that crude remark helped shift my ambitions into overdrive. Frankly, I’m quite stubborn, and I wanted nothing else than to prove him and any other naysayers wrong. When the school year started again, my best friend and I pioneered an all-girl robotics team at our school to show that #girlsrock, not really knowing the challenges that lay ahead. For the next few years, we actively sought mentoring parents, teachers and local company sponsors (including Google!) to donate their time and expertise. It took a village, but our team learned how to build and wire together robots that were over 5 ft tall and 120+ lbs for the FIRST Robotics Competition!”
Samantha Zarate (she/her)
Samantha is a scientist at DNAnexus. Having lived in the Bay Area since she was 16, she feels more at home in California than anywhere else that she has lived, which includes the Philippines, Virginia, Tennessee, and Minnesota. She studied biomedical computation at Stanford and graduated in 2016. In her spare time, you can find her reading, traveling, playing Stardew Valley, or eating snickerdoodle ice cream.
“Even though my team at DNAnexus is incredibly diverse and supportive, I’ve still had to overcome my own impostor syndrome and others doubting me. I began working full-time in the industry at the age of 20, after graduating from Stanford at 19; I’m currently 22. My status as a young woman has led to challenges at work, which in my naïveté I’d never expected. I’ve been asked if I worked in sales at an almost completely academic conference — while standing next to a poster with my name on it as the first author. I’ve had to request customers that we not meet at a bar that checks ID. I’ve spoken to HR while literally wringing my hands out of nervousness. I’ve had to grapple with my own insecurities and fears while interacting with some of the most important people in the field of bioinformatics.
Today, I’m really proud of a tool I developed alongside my colleagues at DNAnexus and the Baylor College of Medicine called Parliament2, which is a structural variant consensus caller. (Structural variants are large mutations in the genome that are difficult to detect due to the technology we use to understand genomes. Structural variant callers tackle this problem in different ways, but a lot of them are difficult to install or integrate meaningfully; Parliament2 will pre-install the callers you want and integrate their results in an easier-to-read format.) We’ve recently submitted a manuscript to bioRxiv, a preprint journal for biology papers, and I’m first author — this is both my first authorship and my first first-authorship!”
Clarissa Bukhan (she/her)
Clarissa (she/her) is a Strategic Partner Development Manager at Google and Editor-in-Chief at Women of Silicon Valley. Prior to Google, she was an early member of the business development teams at Box and Optimizely. She is passionate about advancing the role of women in technology through education and storytelling. Before Women of Silicon Valley, her work in this field included serving as a committee member of the Box Women’s Network and as a mentor to female high school entrepreneurs through BUILD.org.
Outside of work, she can often be found reading, traveling, chasing around her two young kids, or sometimes trying to do all three at once.
1. When did you decide you wanted to be in the tech industry?
After graduating from college, my original intention was to work in journalism. I took a job with a company that produced “advertorial” reports (which are basically sponsored articles) for international newspapers. We got to live in a different country every 4 months, which was a dream, but the way that work got done at that company was very old-school. We faxed contracts back and forth and kept track of calls, contacts, and calendars on paper. A good percentage of our work day was spent managing these administrative tasks.
At the end of my first year there, we found ourselves in the middle of the recession, and the company was struggling. I came back to San Francisco and figured I’d do something short-term until I found a role that I was really passionate about, so I took an entry-level job at a startup. At that company, I was suddenly introduced to a whole new world of technology — CRMs to manage contacts, e-signature tools to manage contract signing, collaborative calendars, and shared drives. I realized how technology had the power to change the way that work gets done. From then on, I was hooked and have worked in tech ever since.
2. Who’s one person in your life you looked up to when you were younger?
My grandmother was a pretty phenomenal person. She grew up in the Philippines and came to the US in the 1950s to pursue her Masters degree in banking at Columbia University in New York. There weren’t many women pursuing advanced degrees in business at the time, and I imagine that there were still far less that were foreign/international students, but she did it.
She ended up meeting my grandfather during her time in New York and went on to raise 10 children. As someone who became a mom for the first time just two years ago, I can’t even fathom the physical and mental toll that carrying, birthing, and raising that many children must have taken on her, but she did it.
She was a wonderful mother and became the matriarch of our huge, crazy family. She passed away a couple of years ago, but every time this whole parenthood thing gets tough (which is often), I find inspiration in thinking of her.
3. Where’s your hometown?
San Francisco, CA.
4. What’s a time you faced a struggle?
One of the most challenging periods I’ve been through recently started in October 2015. My uncle Rocky, the youngest of my mom’s siblings, went in for a fairly standard surgery and unfortunately did not survive. A couple of weeks later, my aunt, uncle, and grandmother (from the same side of the family) were involved in a tragic car accident, which took my grandmother’s life. We lost 2 loved ones, unexpectedly, within a one month period. For a family as close as ours, this was a huge blow.
At the time, I also happened to be pregnant with my first child, working full-time, and attending my first year of business school at UC Berkeley’s evening/weekend program, so there was a lot going on. I was managing feelings of grief, on top of the physical (and emotional) discomforts of pregnancy, while trying to stay afloat at both work and school. As an introvert by nature, I tend to turn inward when I need to process things. I prefer to handle difficult situations on my own, rather than talking it out or asking for help. However, this time I literally could not manage alone.
I found comfort in leaning on my family, who were coping with the same experience of loss, but were still somehow able to bring some levity to those long days spent in ICU waiting rooms. At work, my manager and colleagues were supportive and gave me the flexibility to take as much time off as I needed. At school, my study group stepped up for me and made sure that our work was taken care of in my absence. As someone who doesn’t often ask for help, this experience reminded me of the importance of community, and of giving and accepting help from those around you.
5. What’s a time you did something you were immensely proud of?
I had a proud moment recently, while I was on maternity leave with my son. My husband and I were in the process of buying our first house and were hoping to get a specific type of loan. Ten minutes after filling out the preliminary paperwork, I received a call telling me in a very dismissive tone, “Yeah, that loan isn’t going to be an option for you.”
I was shocked and asked how they had come to that conclusion so quickly. The loan officer told me, “You’re on maternity leave. We can’t qualify you unless you go back to work before closing.” The closing was in 4 weeks and I still had 2 months of leave left with my son. I was floored. It was the first time that I had felt the sting of discrimination for being a parent. It felt wrong, so I instinctively pushed back.
Who were they to assume that I might not come back to work after maternity leave? Why was the fact that I had a baby preventing us from getting a loan that we were fully qualified for financially? Were they saying that if I’d had my son one month earlier, this wouldn’t have been an issue? How was that fair? Was this even legal?
It turns out, it wasn’t. I did some research and found the specific law that protects people from being discriminated against in real estate transactions due to familial status. I shared that with her and told her I wanted to speak with whomever the ultimate decision maker on the matter would be. After much back and forth, things ended up working out in our favor and we qualified for the loan.
I was proud of the fact that I had refused to accept that initial decision, had listened to that gut feeling that told me it was a biased outcome, and had held my ground. It seems like a small win, but honestly, a couple of years ago, I don’t know that I would have had the wherewithal to question a decision that seemed so final.
6. What’s something that’s been on your mind a lot lately?
I recently returned to work after my second maternity leave, and it’s prompted me to think a lot about how to lead a balanced life. There’s a lot of fodder about whether working moms can “have it all,” but I think that’s the wrong question. It’s not about being the ultimate PTA parent while climbing the career ladder to the very top, the real question is — what is the right balance *for me* to feel fulfillment in both my family life and my work life? The answer to that is nuanced and likely different for every working parent. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what that answer is for myself.
7. Favorite food?
Having grown up in San Francisco, I have to say that Dungeness crab is probably my all-time favorite food.
8. Favorite book?
Reading has long been my favorite hobby, so I have a lot of favorites! I love fiction and find myself particularly drawn to books with offbeat (often “unlikeable”) protagonists, so a few favorites are A Confederacy of Dunces, Ask the Dust, A Prayer for Owen Meany, and Everything is Illuminated.
9. If you could try another job for a day, what would it be?
I’ve always wanted to be a journalist, so I would love to try that out for a day.
10. If you could give your 18-year-old self a piece of advice, what would it be?