Laboratoria

Laboratoria is a Latin American nonprofit organization focused on training low-income young women as programmers and experts in web development, with the aim of promoting their employment in the digital sector. Founded in Lima, Peru in 2014, it currently operates programs in Lima, Arequipa, Santiago, Mexico City, Guadalajara, and São Paulo.

Laboratoria
Formation2014 (2014)
Founders
TypeNonprofit
PurposeTechnical training for low-income young women
Websitewww.laboratoria.la

History

Laboratoria was founded by Mariana Costa Checa, Herman Marin, and Rodulfo Prieto in 2014, inspired by initiatives such as Black Girls Code and Girls Who Code.[1] It began with a pilot training program for 15 women, and rapidly expanded, with 130 graduates and 300 new candidates by the end of 2015.[2] Participants receive an intensive six-month course on the most-used programming languages and digital platforms, such as HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript.[1][3]

Its funding sources include donations from Google, Telefónica, and the National Council of Science, Technology, and Technological Innovation of Peru. In addition, graduates from the program who get jobs as developers contribute a percentage of their salaries during their first two years.[2]

Laboratoria started small training programs in Chile and Mexico in June 2017.[3] A São Paulo branch was opened in February 2018.[4]

More than 1,000 women had completed the program as of 2020.[5]

Awards and recognition

Laboratoria was the winner of the Kunan Award for social entrepreneurship in 2014.[6]

In 2015, the Spanish edition of the MIT Technology Review named Mariana Costa Checa to its list of Peru's innovators under 35 for her involvement in the project.[2]

In February 2016, Laboratoria signed an agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank to scale up the project over the next three years, and improve the educational and workplace inclusion of women in the digital sector around Latin America through a contribution of over $900,000 from the Multilateral Investment Fund.[7] That April, the organization received Google for Education's RISE Award for its inclusive work in the technology sector.[8]

In 2018, Laboratoria was chosen to participate in the World Economic Forum's UpLink initiative.[9]

References
  1. Lastra, Francisco J. (18 March 2015). "Laboratoria: La ONG que empodera a mujeres sin recursos a través de la programación" [Laboratoria: The NGO That Empowers Women Without Resources Through Programming]. El Definido (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  2. Sánchez, María C. "Mariana Costa, 29". MIT Technology Review en español (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  3. Romainville Izaguirre, Miriam (11 August 2015). "Laboratoria, una empresa social que apuesta por las mujeres" [Laboratoria, a Social Company That Bets on Women]. El Comercio (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 5 May 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  4. "Associacao Laboratoria em São Paulo, SP". Diário Cidade (in Portuguese). Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  5. Heitner, K. L. (31 March 2020). "Women Entrepreneurs in Latin America". In Tasso Eira de Aquino, Carlos; Rojas, Ronald R. (eds.). Diversity and Inclusion in Latin American and Caribbean Workplaces. Springer Nature. p. 78. ISBN 9783030354190. Retrieved 25 August 2021 – via Google Books.
  6. "Laboratoria: Ganador de la categoría Emprendedores del Premio Kunan" [Laboratoria: Winner of the Kunan Award in the Entrepreneurship Category] (PDF) (in Spanish). Telefónica. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  7. "Laboratoria y BID firman convenio" [Laboratoria and IADB Sign Agreement]. Diario UNO (in Spanish). 28 February 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  8. Rigg, Nicky (14 April 2016). "Celebrating RISE Awards Winners Who Are Helping Increase Diversity in CS Education". Google for Education. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  9. Baker, Georgina (12 March 2018). "Latin American start-ups are thriving. Let's help them cross borders". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
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