What We Enjoyed about LTX Fest 19

#ltxfest19 LTX Fest 19
Photo Credit IG @latinasintechorg

Latinx people from across the United States descended upon the Bay Area in October for one of the biggest gatherings of Latinx people and tech: LTX Fest 2019. The four-day celebration of community and tech spanned both sides of the San Francisco Bay, offering diverse panels and workshops that established what a Latinx and tech gathering of today should look like. 

BELatina was in the building for this year’s LTX Fest 19. Here were some of our favorite things about the festival:

The Planning Team Organizations 

LTX Fest 19 was possible because three different organizations came together to create an event that was both uniform and unique. 

The Latino Community Foundation is a California-based organization with the mission of unleashing Latino power throughout California. They do this through “building a movement of civically engaged philanthropic leaders, investing in Latino-led organizations, and increasing political participation of Latinos in California.” 

The second planning team organization was Latinas in Tech. Latinas in Tech is a national organization with chapters around the United States with the aim to connect, support, and empower Latinas working across the technology sector. 

Finally, there was The Kapor Center, an organization that “aims to make the technology ecosystem and entrepreneurship more diverse and inclusive.” They have a particular interest in “positive social impacts for communities that have historically been on the periphery of access to opportunity, participation, and influence in the United States.” They certainly made a positive impact with LTX Fest 19! 

The Mercardito 

Professional conventions are a great place for people to get together, learn, and connect with one another — but sometimes one leaves feeling like they didn’t really connect with local businesses. LTX Fest 19 went out of its way to feel more like a modern convening than a typical convention. (The organizers even deliberately avoided referring to the celebration as a convention or conference.) To connect to the local community, there was a mercardito where small Latinx businesses from the area could share their work and merchandise with attendees. Having a mercardito at LTX Fest 19 ensured that attendees could engage with and shop from a variety of local Latinx vendors, which made walking through it very exciting and engaging. 

The Addition of Mental Health Resources 

It is not a secret that Latinx communities have a hard time discussing the realities of mental and emotional health. However, not discussing something doesn’t make it go away. Studies show that undocumented Latina immigrants endure PTSD four times as much as everyone else in the country. With those realities in mind, it’s amazing that LTX Fest 19 had Latinx Therapy in the building providing a space for people to relax, converse, and have free conversations with licensed Latinx mental and emotional health professionals. 

DREAMers in Tech 

DREAMers were in the building speaking about their personal experiences with immigration and working in tech. What was especially impactful about the conversation was that everyone on stage expressed the ways they personally felt about tech, immigration, and what it means to be a DREAMer. They all had unique opinions and experiences, which made for rich conversation. 

Some expressed feeling frustrated by certain topics that others felt very happy with. Hearing a diversity of experiences among DREAMers was a potent reminder that the immigration experience and feelings towards immigration are not monolithic. What everyone on the panel and in the audience could agree upon was that power and innovation are plentiful in the Latinx community. 

Intergenerational Attendance 

LTX Fest 19 almost felt like a huge family get-together because of the diversity of ages among the attendees. You had abuelas, tios, mamis, and niños all in one space to learn about tech, community, and the innovation taking place among Latinx people in tech and business. 

La Comida 

The food offerings were great! Everything from the meat to vegan options were delicious and offered a variety of food options across the Latinx community. There were maduros (amarillitos), tacos, pernil, churros, and of course delicious seafood options. Whoever pulled together the menus for the four-day fest did a great job diversifying the food and keeping everyone full and happy. 

The Music and Atmosphere 

Does networking with a side of Bad Bunny and Mexican Corrido music in the background equal professionalism? Of course, it does! That’s exactly what happened at several networking mixers at LTX Fest 19. Diversity and inclusion look like many things, and allowing people to show up and create the atmosphere they need to be their best selves is part of that. Attendees had the ability to listen to music that spoke to their cultures while speaking to their expertise all at once, and it was great to witness. 

The Inspiration! 

The amount of inspiration one could experience in a four-day festival was overwhelming — in a good way, of course. It was simply awe-inspiring to hear from undocumented young people who are using their experiences to create tech solutions, to meet the Latinas who are creating programming that reaches people in their motherlands and here in the United States, and to learn from the activists who are making sure that Latinx people feel engaged and welcome in the political processes at the local and national level.

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