Urpi Pariona (she/her)

Urpi was born in Peru and grew up in Chicago. She holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Yale University. After college, she joined President Obama's campaign team in 2012 as Regional Hispanic Press Secretary for Virginia and Ohio. Having developed an expertise in Hispanic voters, Urpi joined Google as a digital consultant, connecting Fortune 500 companies with multicultural audiences including African-American, Asian-American, and LGBTQIA+ communities. Urpi then decided to leave Google to get her MBA at The Wharton School, after which she is hoping to transition to a product-focused role through which she can continue advocating for all users. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with the Wharton Social Impact Consulting Club and mentoring Latina college students at UPenn.

After the OFA campaign, she received a couple of offers. One from President Obama’s press team and another one from Google’s start-up multicultural sales team. She turned down the White House offer for three reasons. First, she wanted a job that would offer her the greatest opportunity for growth, greatest resources for personal development, and largest scale for impact. Secondly, having seen how the use of analytics and digital platforms can make a positive impact in donations and voter turnout, she wanted to learn more about how technology could empower minorities and other communities around the world. Thirdly, she wanted an industry that aligned with her personal skills. She excelled working with large learning curves, constant change, and ambitious targets. The public sector isn’t known for quick changes, but tech is.

“I helped to organize a group at Google that advocated for using technology to empower all voters during the 2016 presidential election. It was comprised of individuals across the organization (advertising, engineering, marketing, etc). We advocated for Google to make search products available in other languages in addition to English. As a result, the One Box with voting information was released in Spanish and Chinese. I will never forget showing my mother how she could now type “where to vote” in Spanish and she’d be able to get directions to the nearest polling place and study the ballot questions. At least 20 million Spanish dominant Hispanics living in the US now had access to this information in Spanish and could become better-educated voters. This experience reminded me of the unparalleled scale of impact we have in the technology sector.”

Source of inspiration: Last semester in business school, my executive coach taught me to identify activities that give me energy and activities that deplete me of that energy. I figured out that painting, playing the guitar, working out, meditating, and volunteering are activities that give me energy. Whenever I do these, I lose track of time and after I finish I feel replete, ready to share that positive energy with others. I have since set time aside each day to pursue one of these activities for at least an hour.

Book recommendation: When I was an adolescent, full of dreams and ideals, my favorite book was The Alchemist. When I was unemployed and struggling to overcome a major life failure, my favorite book became Steve Job’s biography by Walter Isaacson. When I joined President Obama’s campaign, my favorite book became Dreams of My Father. When I was looking to strengthen my mind and find focus, my favorite book became Autobiography of a Yogi.

Brittiney Jones (she/her)

Brittiney Jones is a Senior Diversity Recruiting Program Manager at Oracle. She supports the Oracle Talent Advisory team’s diverse strategy towards recruiting for professional level roles across North America and Canada with an emphasis on roles for Product Development, Corporate Architecture, F&A, and Marketing. Brittiney’s personal mission is to make sure that when a candidate is being considered, they are being considered holistically. An advocate for community service, Brittiney is also the founder of a non-profit in Chicago, Chicago Youth Opportunities Initiative, focused on career development opportunities for youth placed in foster care.

What’s a challenge you’ve faced and how did you get through it?

One of the challenges I’ve faced and overcome is something called “stereotype threat”. Stereotype threat is when you allow your perception of how people see you affect your confidence. My advice is to recognize distraction when you see it; distraction will take you off course. Stand on your integrity — otherwise you can talk yourself into underperforming.

What’s something you’ve done that you’re really proud of?

I’m proud of being a first-generation college graduate. I’m proud of breaking through the barriers I’ve faced without letting them break me. Growing up, I was no stranger to life’s obstacles; at an early age I was emancipated and began paying bills, essentially becoming an adult at age 16. While working with a case worker, I realized the lack of resources for people like me and began creating my nonprofit. During this time, I also discovered my passion for seeing people succeed. I noticed the power of being an influencer. As I think back over the past years, I can see how everything tied into the career I have today.

Bethany Pagels-Minor (they/them)

Originally from Mississippi, Bethany relocated to Silicon Valley in 2018 from Chicago. They have worked with both small and large tech companies to increase product adoption, improve their product experience, and evolve their product vision. Bethany is passionate about creating a culture of accountability that allows teams to “just” do the work well.

What’s a challenge you’ve faced and how did you get through it?

Before moving to the Bay Area, I was based in Chicago and felt like I had hit a ceiling in terms of people’s perception of my abilities in late 2017. I realized that I was pretty frustrated and took that opportunity to change my path. I began speaking around the city, and eventually, I was invited to speak around the country. I then turned those speaking gigs into a dream opportunity at Apple, which has led to the journey of a lifetime.

What’s something you’ve done that you’re really proud of?

I work extensively with a number of nonprofits, including YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago and Howard Brown Health. I am especially proud of my work at Howard Brown Health; I’ve helped the organization grow into one of the largest LGBTQ-centric health centers, with over $100 million in revenue and treating more than 35,000 individuals annually.

Xiomara Contreras (she/her)

Read this article on Medium.

Xiomara Contreras is an Associate Product Marketing Manager at Google where she builds strategies and campaigns for the small business team. Her work focuses on increasing the number of multicultural businesses that are online by helping them grow with Google products. She graduated from Northwestern University with a major in Communication Studies and a minor in Latina/o Studies. She is a proud Chicagoan and attended a boarding school in Concord, Massachusetts. Xiomara is also a first generation college student, and the daughter of Mexican immigrants. She is interested in the intersection of social justice, education, and technology. You can find her painting, drawing, writing memoirs, learning to do digital drawings, and volunteering with organizations the that helped her get to where she is today, including High Jump Chicago, the Daniel Murphy Scholarship fund, and the Pullman Foundation.

1. When did you know you wanted to be in tech?

I never decided that I wanted to be in the tech industry. I thought it was only for engineers and did not think about the business side. I was undecided in college about my career goals, so I applied to the Management Leaders for Tomorrow program to develop professionally and find internship opportunities. My MLT coach pushed me to apply to tech companies, even though I did not believe I had anything to offer to the industry. I knew little about it and was not sure if I would find my passions there. Even so, because of her encouragement, I applied to several tech roles, including the Google BOLD internship. This lead me to a full-time role in marketing, where I am still learning a lot and tackling daily challenges. I am curious to see where my tech and marketing experience takes me in the years to come.

2. Who is a role model that you look up to?

My older sister. Growing up, she faced a lot of obstacles, teachers gave up on her and some of our family members had low expectations of her. Through all of her struggles, my sister was always there for me — taking me to school, cooking food for us, and standing up for me. I was in middle school when she moved out of the house, but she still checked in on me and my little sister. She worked after school and on weekends to help our family, and to support herself now that she was not living with us.

When the local community college kept putting her in remedial courses, she made the choice to do a medical assistant program. Although the program put her in debt, she pushed forward and made what she could from it. I’ve learned from her to stand my ground, be loud, fight, and not let others step on me. Now, she is the mother of two beautiful children that have changed my life, and everyday I wonder how she does it.

3. Where is your hometown?

Chicago.

4. What’s a challenge you’ve faced in your career journey?

I had some difficult years in high school. I attended a boarding school in Massachusetts, starting at the age of 14, and had to adjust to a predominantly white and wealthy institution. I was behind in my education and no longer felt intelligent. Though I had supportive teachers and friends who wanted me to succeed, I still felt like I did not deserve to be there. Why were they dropping over 50K a year on me? I was also weary of sharing my home life with my peers, almost ashamed of where I came from.

During my sophomore year my mother and stepfather divorced, leading to a downward spiral of emotions and financial trouble. During my junior year, my mother got into a car accident, which left her unable to work for a year, and later she could only work a few days per week. I moved five times during high school because of our financial struggles, and during my senior year we were evicted from my grandmother’s house, and then had to figure out how to pay for funeral expenses for both my great grandmother and grandfather within a span of four months.

I felt guilty that nine months out of the year I had stability — a room and three meals a day. Through all of this, I somehow came out of my shell during my junior year and I found strength in my family. I learned that sticking together prevented us from hitting rock bottom; living in cramped apartments with other family members, getting help from my other grandfather, and making sacrifices for one another. Through all my worrying, my mother assured me that things would be okay and that I had to focus on my education. She wanted nothing to get in my way.

5. Describe a time you were proud of yourself.

My proudest moment was giving the graduation speech at the Latinx student congratulatory in college. I was honored to have been nominated and to speak to these beautiful families. Many people in the room were first generation college students, immigrants, and working class people. It was so special to see them in a room celebrating something so revolutionary, so against what this country expected from us. When I gave my speech, I shared my grandmother’s and my mother’s stories. I cried and the audience cried with me. Instead of feeling embarrassed, I felt community and support. I gave the speech in both Spanish and English. I was proud to have been a product of this collective love, of sacrifices, of dreams handed down to children, and of people who chose not to forget where they came from.

6. What’s something that’s been on your mind a lot lately?

Mental health in communities of color, access to resources, and destigmatization. How do we make sure we are not over medicating Black and Brown kids with ADHD, but also make sure they are being recognized and served? How do we open up conversations about depression and anxiety and overcome generational differences and provide free therapy and access to medication? What is the balance here?

7. Favorite food?

My abuelita’s mole rojo.

8. Mac or PC?

Mac.

9. If you could try another job for a day, what would it be?

Eighth grade teacher.

10. If you could give your 18-year-old self a piece of advice, what would it be?

You are worthy. You are an asset in any room you step into. You are more than your academics. You deserve a break. You need to take care of your mind and body. It is okay to fail. It is okay to not always be strong and let yourself cry and let others hear you cry. You are not everyone’s rock.