Welcome to our 2024 H2 cohort!

Our new cohort started last week. Please read on to get to know a little about each aspiring software engineer.

Techtonica’s 2024 H2 full-time software engineering cohort

Photo of Abbie, an Asian woman, from the shoulders up. She is looking at the camera with an open-lipped smile. She is wearing a light-red colored lipstick, and a pink-purple top, and black-framed glasses. Her straight dark brown hair is brushing down both shoulders.

Abbie (she/her)

1) Tell us a little about your life
I was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama with two younger brothers. I graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a Bachelor’s of Science, double-majorinag in Biology and Psychology with a minor in Chemistry. From a young age, I never really knew what I wanted to be when I “grew up.” However, I did always know that I found joy in helping people. It wasn’t until after graduating from university that I learned I could help make a difference in people’s lives, and it did not have to be through the medical field. In pursuit of finding a more creative and challenging path, I found software engineering.

2) What made you decide to pursue a software engineering career and apply for Techtonica?
I always knew I wanted to make a difference in the world, but during my journey to join the medical field and become a pharmacist, I found that I was missing a creative aspect, as well as the challenge of having to think outside the box. I was introduced to UX Design where I found that creative outlet, researching and creating apps to have more accessible user journeys and designs. This experience led me to discovering software engineering, since I wanted a role that also held the challenge of having to build the final product. After figuring out that I wanted to become a software engineer, I still wasn’t sure where or how to start this journey, and I couldn’t afford to go back to school to start a new degree. By chance, a friend introduced me to Techtonica’s software engineering program, which had subsidized tuition and scholarship stipends as well as beliefs and goals that I would be proud to represent. So, I decided to take a chance and applied to be a part of the program.

3) What are you most excited to learn while at Techtonica?
I’m most excited to learn how to not only create and bring my ideas to life, but to learn how basic features are made to function, as well as seeing what ideas I can ideate from those basic building blocks. I look forward to building relationships with people who are on a similar journey and learning the different ways people may approach code. I think that the mission of Techtonica and what they stand for is amazing, and I am so excited to get to be a part of bridging the gap in tech.

4) What do you want to contribute to or change about the tech industry?
I want to make tech more accessible to more people. The tech industry is so advanced, yet it could still be broken down to be more accessible by becoming even simpler. For example, there are many people who have access to tech, but are still unable to use it because they never received the education to learn how to read or write. Through studies of UX Design, more apps can be designed to become more accessible through common icons and symbols to replace the requirement of being able to read or write.

5) What’s your dream project?
I believe that mental health plays an important role in a person’s day-to-day life, so a dream project of mine would be to create a “cozy and relaxing” game that allows someone to immerse themselves into to take a break from their day-to-day lives. I find games such as “Stardew Valley,” and “Animal Crossing,” to be inspirational games that have created a world outside the world we live in. I like that these games are able to provide a sense of escape, especially during difficult and stressful times. I would want my dream project to achieve a similar sense of escape such as these games have provided for many people around the world.

Photo of a Black Muslim woman wearing a blue headscarf and a pink sweater smiling while looking at the camera.

Anta (she/her)

1) Tell us a little about your life
I’m from Senegal, and I came to the USA in 2016 with my mom and my siblings. With the support of my mom, I was blessed to focus on my studies without worrying about anything. My mom is my inspiration in life because she always teaches me that you can accomplish anything even if you are dealt a bad hand, and to always try to help better our society.

2) What made you decide to pursue a software engineering career and apply for Techtonica?
In my third year of high school I took an introductory to computer programming course as an elective not because I knew anything about it but because I had to but during the course I was so amazed to learn how apps and games I’m using in my everyday life were made that’s when I start learning more about it and after attending college for about a year and I found Techtonica and I decided to apply because of Techtonica’s way of teaching is the same as working on the industry, and they provide you with everything you need so you can just focus on learning without having to worry about your living situation.

3) What are you most excited to learn while at Techtonica?
I’m most excited to learn about frameworks and how to utilize it in my everyday development work, and I’m excited about doing more pair programming too.

4) What do you want to contribute to or change about the tech industry?
I want to contribute to projects that are focusing more on inclusivity like how to make AI less biased towards minorities, so it’s not dangerous to anyone.

5) What’s your dream project?
I always wanted to recreate some social media platform’s features, but my dream project is to develop a payment system app that people in my country who are living in rural areas can use to send and receive money, and partner with banks in the cities to bring ATMs to rural areas, so the villagers can use the app to deposit and withdraw money without having to travel so far away.

This is a photo of Christina. She has a warm skin tone, brown curly hair, and is wearing a maroon top. She has multiple nose piercings, one on each nostril, as well as a septum ring. She is looking at the camera and smiling with her teeth. The photo is cropped from the shoulders up and the background is white.

Christina (she/her)

1) Tell us a little about your life
I was born in Fresno, CA, and at the age of 14 my single mother moved us to the Bay Area. I grew up the oldest of five, so I quickly learned resilience. After finishing high school, I jumped straight into retail. Eventually, I worked my way up to a manager position, but I found the work unfulfilling. I realized I wanted more out of my life, so I made the decision to follow my dreams and part ways with that job. The journey has been equally frightening and exhilarating, but it’s also been extremely rewarding. As cliché as it sounds, I’ve been learning that you can really do anything you set your mind to. Words can lose their meaning, so I remind myself daily to hold on to that truth.

2) What made you decide to pursue a software engineering career and apply for Techtonica?
I have always loved how innovative and creative technology can be while also being such an impact on society and contributing to that excites me, as does the way software engineering challenges you to think outside the box while providing endless opportunities for ideas to grow into meaningful change. I started learning how to code on Mimo, an app that offers courses on various programming languages, then made my way over to freeCodeCamp. Wanting to further my knowledge and make a career of something that I’m passionate about, I was really excited when I heard about Techtonica. There are countless boot camps out there, but Techtonica stood out to me because of their attention to inclusivity for underrepresented individuals. Empowering women and non-binary people to pursue tech careers resonated with me and prompted me to apply!

3) What are you most excited to learn while at Techtonica?
I think what excites me the most is learning to step out of my comfort zone and learn more about the world of software development. I’m anticipating many challenging moments as well as “aha” moments. It thrills me to know this experience will provide me with valuable technical skills, as well as being able to build meaningful connections. I can’t wait to discover more of what the tech world has to offer while gaining a new perspective of it all.

4) What do you want to contribute to or change about the tech industry?
I want to be able to shine a light on diverse perspectives. As a woman of color, I aim to advocate for inclusivity and equity. I would love to create an environment that includes and celebrates everyone, and I’m striving to allow pathways for those unique contributions. My goal is to help break down the barriers that have been set and to foster positive change.

5) What’s your dream project?
The many different ideas I have are typically geared towards doing something positive for the community or the planet. One of them is creating a more sustainable shopping app that would help users make more informed decisions about the products that they are purchasing. It would have emission ratings included, a carbon footprint score, materials, sources, how much energy is consumed making the product, and eco-certifications. The user could also personalize their account, receive product recommendations based on their purchases and preferences, and connect with other users via comments, ratings, discussions, and recommendations. Lastly, I would like to add a filter, so the user can have the option of sorting through the products based on carbon emissions, ratings, and other things.

Photo of Juliana, a white woman, from the shoulders up against a plain white background. She is smiling at the camera. She is wearing a black sweater and her straight blonde hair falls down past her shoulders.

Juliana (she/her)

1) Tell us a little about your life
I grew up in Napa, California and moved to Sonoma County to pursue higher education. After graduating from Santa Rosa Junior College in 2016 with an AA in Communications, I moved to Arizona to save money for school and to reflect on career paths before pursuing my bachelor’s degree. In 2018 I moved back to Sonoma County to attend Sonoma State University and graduated with my BA in Elementary Education. 2020 was a very difficult time for schools and teaching, so I began working in marketing instead. After 4 years in marketing, I decided I needed a career that was more technical and challenging, which has been the biggest push to invest in learning software engineering.

2) What made you decide to pursue a software engineering career and apply for Techtonica?
I became interested in learning how to code after I saw how much my older brother enjoyed being a full-stack web developer. We’ve always had similar interests, and I was able to spend the last few years watching him begin an amazing career that started with self-teaching. I began learning web development from a single semester class a few years ago, and while I enjoyed the class, I felt nervous to make the leap, but it was always in the back of my mind. In January of this year, I decided that I wanted to try again and began researching programs — which is when I found Techtonica. I was ready to make a big change in my life and Techtonica seemed like a great fit for me so I applied as soon as I could!

3) What are you most excited to learn while at Techtonica?
I am most excited to learn how websites and apps actually function — how to take an idea and somehow turn it into something usable. Websites and apps are so incredibly important to our everyday lives and I want to learn how all of the inner pieces come together to form this medium that we usually take for granted.

4) What do you want to contribute to or change about the tech industry?
I am passionate about fostering diversity in the tech industry, not just within the work environment but also in the products that are designed. A wider range of perspectives and experiences is essential for driving innovation and I want to be a part of that. It’s no secret that the tech industry is predominantly made up of men — so it’s crucial for a greater variety of people to enter into tech in order to make changes in how the industry functions and whose voices are considered when products are developed.

5) What’s your dream project?
My list of dream projects will only continue to grow, but the one that currently sticks out the most is creating some sort of app for dog owners. The general use would be connecting local owners for dog playdates and meetups and highlighting and rating local dog-friendly outings like restaurants, hikes, parks, and other locations.

Photo of Kim, a white woman, from the shoulders up, wearing a medium gray blue button down shirt and dark rimmed glasses. She has straight brown hair just past her shoulders and is smiling.

Kim (She/Her)

1) Tell us a little about your life
I was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in the New Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia. My father, the child of immigrants, believed in seizing opportunities in a country with greater accessibility for those from various economic backgrounds, and both my parents stressed the importance of education. Despite instilling these values, they overlooked the crucial role of emotional intelligence in life’s fulfillment. This oversight had me searching to fill a void by living in various countries, working with refugees, and eventually led me to navigate a challenging marriage with two young children. Through these experiences, I learned how cultivating a learner’s and growth mindset prepares me to show up differently in life. I’m eager to take these new skills on my next journey into a career in coding.

2) What made you decide to pursue a software engineering career and apply for Techtonica?
My interest in tech first developed while working as an administrator at a travel company. Sparked by boredom and a bit of curiosity, I explored how designing a relational database could enhance efficiency and reduce tasks. This tenacity and propensity for problem-solving are qualities most successful coders share and are key to a success in this field. Incidentally, the pandemic closure of my employer coincided with an abrupt end of my marriage. Suddenly faced with the need to find a new career and reinventing myself professionally, I turned to tech. Techtonica’s mission to empower marginalized populations and focus on investing in people as our greatest resource resonates with my values and was a clear choice to apply.

3) What are you most excited to learn while at Techtonica?
As a former student of linguistics, I’m eager to master the structured syntax of coding. Beyond that, I’m fascinated by the intellectual challenge of logical thinking and creative design. What truly excites me above all is Techtonica’s holistic approach, teaching not just code but fostering lifelong learning and personal growth. This aspect of their program is incredibly inspiring to me.

4) What do you want to contribute to or change about the tech industry?
A professional goal of mine is to collaborate with others to challenge the tech industry’s underutilization of diverse talent and marginalized populations. It’s a societal loss that ultimately hampers innovation and quality of life for all. By advocating for this cause, I aim to participate in meaningful change within corporations, promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, and highlighting how these efforts elevate various aspects of our society and contribute to economic prosperity.

5) What’s your dream project?
My dream projects involve using coding to empower underserved communities. For instance, I’d like to expand an application that assists those leaving domestic violence situations by connecting local resources and support on one secure platform. I envision creating a similar tool in multiple languages for refugees, connecting them with nearby agencies, distribute essential information and build a community network. These projects align with my passion for using technology to make a positive impact on vulnerable populations.

Feminine presenting, Asian person with bright pink, long hair. She’s wearing a blue blazer, accessorizing it with gold hoops, and smiling brightly. The background is of a traditional office setting that’s mostly blue.

Mai (she/they)

1) Tell us a little about your life
I grew up in a close-knit Vietnamese-American refugee community in New Orleans East, and I was the first person in my family to graduate from college with my BA in philosophy and history from Loyola University New Orleans and my MA in philosophy focused on the silencing of female patients’ pain from Central European University (CEU). In addition to my academic pursuits, I lived abroad for three years, including a year teaching in Belgium as a Fulbrighter, and when I recognized a lack of resources available to Asian Fulbrighters, I co-founded Fulbright Lotus to support applicants and grantees through their Fulbright process via advocacy work, mentorship opportunities, and community resources. A common theme throughout my work and research is the desire to study the role that systems play in limiting, excluding, and silencing people from marginalized groups, preventing their participation in various public and private spaces, such as medical care, professional jobs, and educational institutions. Having grown up in a marginalized community that has been historically displaced by war and ecological disaster (i.e., the Vietnamese community in New Orleans East), my goal in life is to create more inclusive spaces for different communities to exist and thrive.

2) What made you decide to pursue a software engineering career and apply for Techtonica?
For a long time, I aspired to become a professor, and all my academic/career pursuits were geared toward that goal, but when I received an acceptance offer for the Ph.D. program of my dreams, I recognized that I wanted to dedicate more of my life to helping others beyond the confines of academia. Becoming a software engineer seemed like the best option because it allowed me to combine my philosophical education and my work in disability in a practical and meaningful way. As an engineer, I have the opportunity to continuously learn, solve problems, and build infrastructure that will hopefully make online spaces more accessible. Once I decided to become a software engineer, I spent the next few months learning to code on my own and researching programs. That’s how I stumbled upon Techtonica. Its mission resonated with me, and I was excited about working with a community of people dedicated to making the tech industry a more inclusive place.

3) What are you most excited to learn while at Techtonica?
I spent a lot of my early teenage years customizing my Tumblr page. While I’m interested in front-end engineering, my true passion lies in back-end development. I’m primarily drawn to problem-solving and working with teams to find solutions. I also have a strong interest in using automation to make the lives of users easier.

4) What do you want to contribute to or change about the tech industry?
Given that a substantial amount of our lives is spent online, I think software engineers have an ethical responsibility to create a safe and open environment for ALL users. A part of our jobs should be finding ways for our tools to help enrich the lives of our users, and the only way to do that is to hire individuals interested in working on initiatives that focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging. I want to be an engineer who takes other people’s experiences into account as I build systems to serve them. Coming from an education background, I bring a learning and collaborative mindset to my approach to working with others. I firmly believe that our technology should be built to serve everyone.

5) What’s your dream project?
Having previously worked in the disability and education space, I am interested in finding ways to use tools to accommodate others and create a more inclusive environment. My dream project is to create more user-friendly and accessible features for people with disabilities. For example, I would like to develop a feature for social media apps that offers automated suggestions for alt-text, which would be helpful for people with low vision.

Photo of MJ, a Black woman, from the shoulders up. She is looking at the camera with an open-toothed smile. MJ has shoulder-length dreadlocks with some lighter brown tips. She is wearing a dark top and small hoop earrings. The background is white.

MJ (she/they)

1) Tell us a little about your life
I was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Compton, CA. After many attempts at traditional higher education, I decided to take a different route and enter the field of childcare. Starting off as a nanny, I eventually evolved into a Household Manager and later pivoted into birth work, becoming a postpartum doula. These roles allowed me to support families in meaningful ways and build lasting relationships. While working in this field, I met my wife, and we are currently planning to grow our family. Additionally, I have been involved in community initiatives focused on supporting new parents and advocating for better maternal care.

2) What made you decide to pursue a software engineering career and apply for Techtonica?
When my partner and I decided to start a family, I knew I wanted to pivot to a career that would allow me to provide for my family while being present as well. Initially, software engineering was not at the top of my list due to my belief that it was unattainable given my situation. However, after researching what makes a great software engineer, I realized I possessed many of the necessary characteristics and qualities, such as curiosity and problem-solving skills. So I decided to begin my search for training programs. During my search, my wife and I suffered the tragic loss of our twin boys who were born pre-term, which devastated us emotionally and financially, making many coding boot camps no longer viable options.
Discovering Techtonica felt like a light at the end of the tunnel. The opportunity, combined with Techtonica’s mission that resonated with my values, made it an easy choice. I was determined to give myself the best shot at being selected for the upcoming cohort. Coding became a way for me to channel my grief into something productive and hopeful.

3) What are you most excited to learn while at Techtonica?
I am excited to build things! The little girl in me who loved playing with Legos and taking apart and rebuilding model cars is thrilled to create tangible projects that have the potential to entertain, assist, or even change the status quo. Specifically, I am eager to learn about JavaScript, React, and other modern web technologies. I’m also looking forward to collaborating with my cohort and learning from experienced mentors in the tech industry.

4) What do you want to contribute to or change about the tech industry?
Working as a postpartum doula, I was able to witness firsthand the disparity of care that pregnant Black women receive compared to their white counterparts. Research indicates that AI could potentially exacerbate this gap further. This is just one example of how biased technology can be. I am determined to learn ways to ensure that people who look like me and come from similar backgrounds have a seat at the table. I want to be part of initiatives that create inclusive technology and advocate for more representation in tech. By sharing my story and experiences, I hope to inspire others from underrepresented communities to pursue careers in technology.

5) What’s your dream project?
When I received my offer letter from Techtonica, one of the first things I did was create a list of projects I wanted to pursue. While the list is becoming quite lengthy, one project that stands out is a book app for my wife. She made me promise to build the perfect app to help her keep track of all her books, and it’s a promise I intend to keep. This app will feature a personalized library, reading progress tracker, and recommendations based on her preferences. Additionally, I dream of creating tools that support new parents, such as a postpartum care app that provides resources and support for families navigating the early stages of parenthood.

Headshot of My Tuyen with white background, an Asian woman, from the shoulders up. She is looking at the camera with a closed-lipped smile. She is wearing silver hoop earrings, silver necklace, and a dark green top. Hair brown hair is down and in front of both shoulders.

My Tuyen (she/her)

1) Tell us a little about your life
I was born in Vietnam and moved to the US when I was 7 years old. My parents speak little English and so from a young age, I was forced to be a translator and a guide for my parents. I am a first-generation college student with a bachelor’s degree in economics. I am passionate about immigration rights and access to education because I saw how few opportunities my parents had to get an education after the Vietnam war. As a teenager, my compassion for Latino immigrants in the US developed as a result of my own experiences as an immigrant. I saw that the Hispanic community faced a lot of racism as well as language and cultural barriers that I also experienced. When I started immersing myself in Mexican culture, my love for Spanish and my passion for immigration advocacy grew even more. I hope to one day be able to uplift their voices and make a small difference in their lives through my work as a software engineer.

2) What made you decide to pursue a software engineering career and apply for Techtonica?
I planned to pursue immigration policy research and advocacy, but when I realized a top-down approach would take a long time to have an effect in the present, I started seeking more direct ways to reach people.

In my undergrad program, I used Stata for statistical analysis, and it was my first foray into computer science. During COVID, I started the Harvard CS50 online course, and I was amazed at the creative power of software engineers to literally create anything they can think of. After learning about Techtonica from a facebook group, Subtle Asian Women, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to learn coding hands-on with a company whose values so closely aligned with my own.

3) What are you most excited to learn while at Techtonica?
I am most excited to learn about how to create my own projects and the process to start something like that. I am excited about the community that Techtonica offers. I’m looking forward to learning how to work in teams, and how to contribute to group projects as well.

4) What do you want to contribute to or change about the tech industry?
I want to contribute to the use of technology as a way to widen access to education. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with a mission that’s very close to my heart. I’m very invested in how AI can fill the gap between a student’s needs and the resources available to them.

5) What’s your dream project?
My dream personal project is to create an app that serves as an educational tool to teach people about the immigration experience. It would simulate the US immigration experience by randomizing the personal attributes that are used to determine eligibility for visas and green cards (i.e. marital status, existing family here, occupation, wealth, education etc.), many of which people have no control over. The goal is to reduce the amount of microaggressions and harmful rhetoric that gets directed at the Hispanic community due to ignorance about how complicated, time-consuming, and costly the process is.

Photo of Nia, a Black woman, from the shoulders up in front of a white background. She is looking at the camera, smiling with teeth. She is wearing a green shirt, small dangly earrings, and a silver necklace tucked in her shirt. She has mostly black box braids with hints of pink, blonde, and brown that’s in a half up/half down style. Some of her hair is tossed over her left shoulder.

Nia (she/ her)

1) Tell us a little about your life
I was born and raised in South Carolina by parents from New York. This dichotomy made me hyper aware of cultural and regional differences in the US. It intrigued me and made me realize that there are all types of cultures, igniting a desire to learn and see more of the world. This desire led me to receive a B.A. in Spanish, a minor in Japanese with a concentration in pre-medicine. I learned as many languages as I could, with the intent to enter the medical field and communicate with as many patients as possible. I studied abroad in both Japan and Argentina to immerse myself further. After college, I was going to teach English abroad, but then the pandemic happened. While searching for my next move, I found tech and subsequently found Techtonica.

2) What made you decide to pursue a software engineering career and apply for Techtonica?
After graduating during the pandemic, many of my plans were thrown out the window. While trying to pivot and figure out my next steps, I stumbled upon YouTube videos of women showcasing a day in their life as software developers. It reminded me of how I always wanted to learn how to code but never really considered it as a possible career path. These women reintroduced it to me and showed me that it was very possible even without a formal education. It propelled me to start learning and eventually I stumbled upon Techtonica at a tech conference. Once I learned of the program, I knew I had to apply!

3) What are you most excited to learn while at Techtonica?
I’m most excited to learn how to do back-end. I’ve learned some front-end languages and built some apps, however I felt restricted in what I can do. For example, my sister asked me if I could code her wedding website to include an RSVP feature. I tried looking it up to see if there was a way to do that with the languages that I know. Unfortunately, since she didn’t want it to be an external link and I didn’t know how to save input to a database, I was unable to help her. This made me eager to learn back-end development so that I could code more functional applications.

4) What do you want to contribute to or change about the tech industry?
I’d love to essentially carry on the mission that Techtonica is on, but specifically target my community; Black women. I’d love to serve as a representation but also as a resource for those around me. I can see the impact already without yet breaking into tech. After I started learning how to code, my friend’s mom was inspired to start looking into it herself. She never considered it until she saw me learning and building websites. I’d like to continue this and reach even more people once I’m in a role.

5) What’s your dream project?
Currently, I’ve been really interested in building my own digital closet. There’s already apps that do this and I even use one of them, however I believe there’s room to improve. Most of the digital closet apps I’ve tried are not as user-friendly and can get quite buggy. I’d love to build my own version that optimizes performance while being simple and easy to navigate.

Steph is a mixed-race person, pictured against a white background and shown from the shoulders up. They are smiling with teeth, wearing an olive green t-shirt layered with a gold necklace. Steph has long, black curly hair styled in a side part, covering their shoulders.

Steph (they/them)

1) Tell us a little about your life
I was born and raised in San Francisco with 2 sisters and 2 brothers, brought up by a single mother. In 2021, I became the first of my immediate family to complete a 4-year degree. I graduated from San Francisco State University with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and minored in African American/Black Studies. I’ve experienced firsthand the rapid changes in San Francisco due to the growth of the tech industry. As someone who has lived here my whole life, I’ve seen how these changes have brought both opportunities and challenges to our community. The influx of tech companies has promoted economic growth and innovation, but it has also led to gentrification, impacting long-time residents and increasing socio-economic disparities.

2) What made you decide to pursue a software engineering career and apply for Techtonica?
All my life, I had been interested in the tech industry and its endless possibilities, being first exposed while on social media sites like MySpace. Spending all my life living in the SF/Bay Area exponentially grew the allure of participating in the tech world, and it seemed so close (especially physically), yet so unattainable. However, being stuck at home during the COVID pandemic, allowed me the free time to rediscover my love for coding and problem-solving and realize the impactful contributions I can bring to the table. Finding Techtonica’s unique program has given me the motivation and inspiration to finally transition from jobs that were purely for survival to pursuing a career in a field I’ve been passionate about for so long.

3) What are you most excited to learn while at Techtonica?
I’m most excited about being challenged and stepping out of my comfort zone. Since being laid off from my job as a Behavioral Analyst during the pandemic, I had been working in security and customer service roles. Being able to use my previous psychology knowledge of human behaviors and interaction, while learning new, difficult concepts and applying them in meaningful ways intrigues me. I’m excited to be stumped and have to solve issues in creative ways. I thrive on problem-solving and finding innovative solutions, and I believe that developing my technical skills will allow me to create projects that positively impact my community and beyond.

4) What do you want to contribute to or change about the tech industry?
One of my biggest goals is to bring more representation, inclusion and diversity to the tech industry. The stereotypes of what a software engineer looks like, essentially boils down to a “tech bro.” I am very passionate about ensuring that diverse voices are heard and valued in tech spaces. Ideally, I hope my presence will allow others to see themselves reflected in these spaces that seem so unattainable.

5) What’s your dream project?
As I learn more new and exciting concepts daily, the possibilities grow. I’ve always had an intense focus on helping underserved communities. Some ideas include, building an app or platform with resources to increase literacy or mental health awareness for marginalized communities. Using tech to empower communities and promote social equity, I desire to make a tangible difference in improving the quality of life for those who need it most.

Headshot of Tati, a young Latina woman, from the shoulders up. She is looking at the camera with an open-lipped smile, showcasing dimples on both cheeks. Her wavy, dark brown hair falls gently onto her shoulders. She is wearing a maroon sweater.

Tati (she/her)

1) Tell us a little about your life
I was born in Bogotá, Colombia and moved to South Florida with my family when I was four years old. When it was time to apply for college, I had no idea what I wanted to study, but I knew that I loved learning about people and I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. I was fortunate to get a need-based scholarship to Cornell University, where I earned my B.S. in Human Development and a minor in Education. I’ve been searching for a good fit career-wise for the last several years and have worked in a variety of roles, including program coordination and clinical research. At last, I discovered that software engineering can offer me the opportunities to learn about people and make a difference while also blending my creativity and problem-solving in a way that excites me like never before; I am so excited for this next chapter!

2) What made you decide to pursue a software engineering career and apply for Techtonica?
At the height of my frustration with what felt like never-ending career confusion, I finally realized that it was time for me to think outside the box. How could I contribute to the causes most dear to me in a way that aligned with my life goals and offered me continuous growth and flexibility? Software engineering was the answer. I spent some time working through freeCodeCamp exercises and realized that I loved feeling like I was playing a game — coding is a practical logic puzzle. While talking to folks who broke into the industry via bootcamps, Techtonica came up as a highly recommended path! One look at their website and I knew that I had found just the right community, support, and rigor that I needed for my journey.

3) What are you most excited to learn while at Techtonica?
In general, I still view a lot of technology as one giant amorphous blob that I cannot yet begin to comprehend. Having the opportunity to dive in alongside my cohort to learn how things mesh together to give us the websites/apps/programs that we love is at the top of my long list of things that excite me about Techtonica. I look forward to understanding more pieces of the puzzle while watching my peers do the same.

4) What do you want to contribute to or change about the tech industry?
My partner is a software engineer, and he has encouraged me to give it a chance for several years now because he knew what a great fit it would be for me. One of the things that held me back from understanding the potential he saw was that I couldn’t imagine myself fitting in at a tech company in that capacity. My goal is to emanate Elle Woods from Legally Blonde, except this time inspire other bubbly, femme Latinas to take the leap and understand that they also belong in the tech industry.

5) What’s your dream project?
The details of my dream project change every week, but the general core is mostly the same: I want to create something that will contribute to students’ goals in some way. On the early childhood side, I envision an app that offers parents of young children simple and attainable alternatives to screen time that foster creativity, play, and independence. For students in early high school, I’d like to create the comprehensive website that I needed back then to navigate decisions regarding higher education. It would include firsthand accounts of individual’s journeys after high school to help inspire students to think outside the box regarding the options available to them. They’d also have access to resources regarding the college application process, links to scholarship and funding opportunities, and information about potential alternatives if higher education is not right for them. Any contribution that I can make to reduce stress and inspire learning will be a dream come true.

Picture of Thane, a brown gender-fluid person. They are wearing a blue shirt and dark blue rectangular glasses and have short, curly dark hair.

Thane (they/them)

1) Tell us a little about your life
I grew up in Virginia and North Carolina as the child of 1st and 2nd generation immigrants: my mother, who emigrated from Trinidad to go to college in the US, and my father, whose own father fled Cuba shortly after Fidel Castro was elected. As a very isolated, mixed-race queer child growing up in the South, the heavily religious and conservative culture that I was raised in made me feel like an outcast, and as an escape medium I delved into fictional worlds, becoming a character that I felt the people around me would relate to far more easily than my authentic self. Unfortunately, between untreated mental health issues that I was dealing with at the time and a general lack of financial and community support, I ended up dropping out of my creative writing major and musical theater minor in college far before my degree was completed and floundering for a couple of years before I found my footing. During the pandemic, I began researching what it would take to get a job in the tech industry and discovered that I loved to code. While I studied web development, I started working in kennels training and grooming dogs, went back to therapy, embraced my identity as a gender-fluid person, moved out of my small hometown and into the city, began to build my community, learned from my background, challenged traditions that do harm, and embraced the compassionate and colorful values and traditions that were instilled in me as a child. I feel especially strongly about being a queer person of color in the South, and I want to challenge the idea that marginalized groups need to “escape” places like this and make these places safer and more accepting together with my chosen and blood family.

2) What made you decide to pursue a software engineering career and apply for Techtonica?
I picked up some basic HTML and CSS skills playing around in forums as a kid, and after taking a class on Java in high school, my curiosity remained permanently sparked. Once I started actively learning about web development with The Odin Project and saw how easily impactful accessibility could be implemented in website functions, my passion only grew. I love how code presents a multifaceted puzzle to solve, and I like the sort of challenge that changes every day. I would also love to travel more of the US and other countries, something that has never been possible for me in other careers.

3) What are you most excited to learn while at Techtonica?
Anything new! After self learning for such a long time, the one thing I’ve discovered about myself is that delving into and really developing my understanding of a new concept is like brain candy. I’m quite prone to putting on documentaries to watch about topics I know nothing about, and I enjoy the same kind of thing in coding. I love the way it engages my mind and forces me into new thought patterns and ideas.

4) What do you want to contribute to or change about the tech industry?
I’ve spent much of my life on the internet: playing, working, learning, and, most often, struggling to find and access resources that I needed to survive. It’s always been both frustrating for me personally to try and affordable housing, medical records, government assistance, and other necessities on websites that were so broken that entire paragraphs of text would be completely unreadable, form submission wouldn’t be possible, or links to essential functions simply wouldn’t work. Even when the issues weren’t that egregious, I couldn’t help thinking about how I would plan out a site to make everything more accessible and convenient for its users. Finding Techtonica and hearing about their mission excited me, and I feel that the program very closely aligns with my goals to bring better accessibility to the web.

5) What’s your dream project?
Having worked in kennels for the past five or so years, I am acutely aware of the lack of user-friendly, glitch free kennel management apps, something that has frustrated me for some time now. While I know my skills aren’t developed enough to fully deploy such an app effectively, I’ve already begun making notes on features and functionality for this theoretical project, and I’m excited to develop it one day.

Photo of Vanessa, a woman with short, curly hair, wearing a blue shirt and smiling at the camera.

Vanessa (she/her)

1) Tell us a little about your life
I grew up in New York City as a latchkey kid and, then, as a so-called “parentified” child, when my two siblings came along. I learned independence and resilience early on. When I graduated from high school, I longed to live life on my own terms and claim my freedom. I traveled the world and discovered my love for different cultures and languages. As I transition into software engineering, that same love extends to coding languages.

2) What made you decide to pursue a software engineering career and apply for Techtonica?
I have to admit, I love a good marketing campaign! Through social media, I became interested in tech. Then as I dug deeper, I realized how much coding clicked for me. Not having a degree in computer science, I searched for a non-traditional path. That search led me to Techtonica!

3) What are you most excited to learn while at Techtonica?
I am most excited to learn how to build an engaging platform with a great user experience. I have a social cause near and dear to my heart that necessitates a well-developed app and website.

4) What do you want to contribute to or change about the tech industry?
I would like to contribute to AI and machine learning such that there is a diversity in the data that feeds the algorithm. I would like the future to be a place where everyone can thrive and feel included.

5) What’s your dream project?
My dream project would be to create an app that solves some of the of issues people face when learning a new language.

Photo of Vivian, a mixed race trans woman, from the shoulders up. She is looking at the camera with a closed lip smile. She is wearing dark red lipstick, and a black top. Her black hair is brushed to the left.

Vivian (she/her)

1) Tell us a little about your life
I’ve always been interested in puzzles and problem-solving, as well as anything creative, from a very young age. I fell in love with math in high school, especially geometric proofs and the way they taught me to think logically. In college I fell in love with philosophy, after which I spent many years employed in positions that did not fulfill any of these interests. Once I discovered coding, I found something that fulfilled all of these interests and opened up new possibilities that gave me hope for the future.

2) What made you decide to pursue a software engineering career and apply for Techtonica?
After having conversations with ChatGPT, I became obsessed with large language models and AI algorithms. This caused a sort of existential crisis when I realized that it wouldn’t be long before the majority of the labor market would be replaced by AI. After asking the all-knowing algorithm what I should do to stay viable, I was told I should learn to code, so here I am. A friend referred me to Techtonica, which seemed to be the best path forward, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to be here.

3) What are you most excited to learn while at Techtonica?
Data structures, and sorting/ search algorithms.

4) What do you want to contribute to or change about the tech industry?
The way ethics are applied to the emergence of AI, particularly how automation should be preceded by a movement among tech companies that seeks to create social safety nets for the working class and poor who will be displaced by its wider adoption and use in society.

5) What’s your dream project?
My dream project is to leverage AI to design and implement an effective system of UBI for those negatively impacted by automation, possibly by creating a wider network for collective bargaining, organizing strikes, boycotts, and other effective strategies, which can help avoid the economic turmoil that would be caused by the alternative.

Xiahui is an Asian girl, pictured against a white background and shown from the shoulders up. She is smiling with teeth, wearing a blue t-shirt. Xiahui has her hair in two braids, one on each side.

Xiahui (she/her)

1) Tell us a little about your life
I was born in South China and raised by my grandparents. In 2015, I went to Shanghai for my college education, where I studied law and received my Bachelor of Laws degree. In 2019, I went to Hong Kong for my master’s education and received my Master of Laws in Economic Law in 2020. I have always been eager to challenge myself and believe in the importance of continuous learning. After moving to the United States and being exposed to the vibrant tech scene in Austin, I became curious about computer science. I started coding by following online resources and quickly gained confidence in my ability to learn and succeed in this new field.

2) What made you decide to pursue a software engineering career and apply for Techtonica?
I started getting curious about the tech industry because most of my friends work in it, and living in Austin exposed me to the vibrant tech scene. To be honest, at first, I had no idea what the world of computer science would be like, but I was willing to challenge myself. I read a book about Python and started coding by following online resources. Later, I successfully completed some small projects, which gave me a sense of achievement. After deciding to switch to tech, I began reading news about the industry. One day, I read an article that mentioned Techtonica, a non-profit organization that helps women transition to tech careers. I visited the website and filled out the interest form. I am eager to learn more through Techtonica and to one day become a software developer!

3) What are you most excited to learn while at Techtonica?
I am currently enjoying learning HTML and CSS, but I am particularly looking forward to diving into JavaScript, React, Data Structures, and Algorithms at Techtonica. More importantly, I really enjoy being part of a community where people share the same interests and goals, and where everyone helps each other out.

4) What do you want to contribute to or change about the tech industry?
I want to give back to the tech industry. Transitioning from law to tech is not easy, and I believe my experience can help those who are new to the industry. I’d like to share my journey online as an example for those who want to transition to tech. Furthermore, I am willing to volunteer and mentor others who are new to the field, especially women and underrepresented groups, to help them overcome barriers and succeed. I hope to make a positive impact and inspire others to do the same by contributing to the tech industry.

5) What’s your dream project?
My dream project is to create an application that facilitates book donations to help students in poverty. This application would allow people to donate books and would include functions to collect donor information, book details, package information, and follow-up information, such as the current location of the donated books. Additionally, the application would feature a communication platform where users can request specific books and interact with donors. By streamlining the book donation process and fostering a community of book lovers, I aim to promote literacy and support students in need.

Support this cohort on July 23rd at the launch celebration by signing up at techtonica.eventbrite.com or donating at techtonica.org/donate.