WASHINGTON,
June 10, 2015 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — The Congressional Hispanic
Caucus Institute (CHCI) led a delegation of its board of directors and advisory
council, including Hispanic members of Congress, for a Tech Community Summit in
Silicon Valley, hosted by Google, on Friday, June 5, 2015.  In addition to
the Summit, the CHCI delegation held high level meeting with tech
companies.   Last year, after mounting pressure from diversity
advocates, leading technology companies made public their gender and race
employment statistics, revealing a startling diversity gap, with Latinos being
one of the most underrepresented minorities.  The numbers revealed on
average that top technology companies had less than 4 percent of Latinos in
their workforce.

"We
need each other and need to work together to address these very low
numbers," said Rep. Linda T. Snchez, CHCI Chair. "I applaud the
companies who have shared their employment figures what gets measured gets
results.  We know that the tech sector is fueling job growth.  The
Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates there will be approximately one million
newly created STEM jobs in the next 10 years.  That corresponds with an
increase of 16 million Latinos in the same period.  Latino talent can fuel
these employment ranks."

The
Tech Community Summit included Latino representatives of Silicon Valley
technology companies, start-ups, non-profits and associations, joining CHCI’s
board and advisory council for roundtable discussions to address how best to
develop a pipeline of Latino talent in the tech sector.

The
conversation continued with high level discussions at several of Silicon
Valley’s top companies to advance Latino diversity and address how technology
companies can work towards better outcomes by:

• Replicating
  successful STEM and Tech programs in K-12 programs
• Investing
  in higher education and Hispanic Serving Institutions
• Strengthening
  recruitment and retention strategies, including investing in paid
  scholarships and internships
• Supporting
  Latino start ups and looking to Latino firms
  through procurement process
• And
  increasing Latino representation on their boards

Watch Esther Aguilera discuss efforts to increase Latino
diversity in Silicon Valley on MSNBC here.

"We
advocated for a comprehensive approach and critical investments so talented
young Latinos can gain access to this critical job sector," said Esther
Aguilera, CHCI President & CEO.  "Silicon Valley does not need to
look very far to recruit more Latinos and CHCI hopes to partner with them to
ensure they are providing jobs not only for coders and engineers, but in
marketing, law, human resources, and the many other areas of work they
employ."

CHCI
has invited the technology companies to continue the conversation at its Public
Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., this October 6-7.

About CHCI
CHCI is the premier Hispanic nonprofit
and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) leadership development
organization in the country that educates, empowers, and connects Latino youth
by providing leadership development programs and educational services. CHCI
directly impacts the lives of more than 1,700 students and young
professionals each year through its fellowships, 
congressional
internships, scholarships, Ready to Lead (R2L)
college readiness program, and R2L
NextGen program. CHCI
NextOpp is its latest resource allowing young Latinos to save, search and
share life-changing opportunities for Latinos across the United States. The CHCI
Board of Directors is comprised of Hispanic members of Congress, nonprofit,
union and corporate leaders. Visit www.chci.org, or join us on Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube,
and Instagram.