GLOBAL SISTERS IN INNOVATION
Visions for a New America B
Achenyo Idachaba
to courtesy of TED Talk)
olivia is one of South America’s poorest countries, and one of its proudest immigrants in America is Lili Gangas. She believes in fostering inclusive tech ecosystems for all. Gangas earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California and systems engineering certification from UCLA Extension, before doing an M.B.A. at the New York University Stern School of Business. In 2018, she was named a New America CA Fellow. New America is a nonprofit working to amplify the reach of California change agents whose innovations solve public problems in bold new ways.
heartlessly immigrant Latinx children are separated from their families in search for the same opportunities I got, haunt me. I could have easily been one of those 2000plus kids feeling the unbearable if it were not for a piece of paper via a green card lottery.”
Writing about her efforts to empower the Latinx community in the summer of 2018, Gangas spoke about her immigrant experience, tech, and innovation:
On its website, the Kapor (pronounced KAY-por) Center says it aims to make the technology ecosystem and entrepreneurship diverse and inclusive. “We are particularly interested in positive social impacts for communities that have historically been on the periphery of access to opportunity, participation, and influence in the United States,” the center states as a mission.
“The first time I stepped into the U.S. was when I was 6 years old,” Gangas said on Medium, an online publishing platform. “Little did I know what opportunities traveling 5000-plus miles from Bolivia to California would bring into my life,” she said. “(S)eeing and hearing how
Gangas went on to describe how she has used her influence and social reach to help the Latinx talent in the U.S. “Through my work at the Kapor Center, I aim to create generational opportunities into the fastest growing, most economic upward mobile sector known as tech,” she said.
Gangas is the chief technology community officer at Kapor. In this role, she helps catalyze the emergence of Oakland, CA as a social impact hub of tech done right— where tech, diverse talent, and action-driven partnerships can tackle pressing social and economic inequities of our communities head-on. Oakland is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the country. According to the 2010 census, AfricanAmericans maintained their status as Oakland’s single largest ethnic group, with 27 percent of the population, followed by non-Hispanic whites at 25.9 percent, and Hispanics of any race at 25.4 percent. Newspaper reports say thousands of people in the city have marched in support of reforms benefiting immigrants. Before coming to the Kapor Center, Gangas was an associate principal at Accenture Technology Lab’s Open Innovation team, building bridges between startups and Global 2000 commercial clients through cross-sector collaboration. She was also a founding member of the team at Booz Allen specializing in crowdsourcing, prize
Lili Gangas Chief Technology Community Officer at the Kapor Center for Social Impact
16 ‹
WOMENOFCOLOR | SPRING 2020
www.womenofcolor.online
