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Alexandra Ximenez

Tell us your story.

When I was at elementary school, I definitely fell in love with computers. Sounds a little bit general, but it was like that. I enjoyed my time in the computer lab, learning about programming (old school!, hello LOGO, Clipper, Turbo Pascal), surfing the web with Netscape or Internet Explorer, and getting to understand how these machines with a lot of wires around and in it, worked, was simply amazing.

No wonder, 20 something years later, I studied IT Engineering and I got caught again in the digital space, but now as a content creator for blogs and social media. My first opportunity as a writer was in Bytepodcast, where I was invited to make reviews, and talk about tech in general. After that, PulsoSocial hired me to cover news about entrepreneurship and events in Latin America. Suddenly I found myself meeting interesting and talented peers at amazing places. One thing led to another, while I was covering my first Startup Weekend, I decided to organise one in my city, then became a facilitator for global events, this role has given me the chance to travel around the world, and even get to work with awesome people in the UP Global Latam Office during 2014.

Other important milestone, was to be part of EpicQueen, with my dear friends Ana and Dany; I realised how important is to create projects. Right now, I'm relaunching my blog Nomadig.it, along with Renata Moreno (women powered), and we aim to cover the startup scene in Latin America, so people can keep up to date of the thrilling action around it.

Who I want to inspire? I want to inspire others to take the lead in their lives, to live by their own precepts and rules, to follow their dreams no matter how long it takes to get them, to embrace failure, to empower others, to share knowledge and experiences without fear.

What advice to you have to share with other women and young girls?

When many of my girl friends hear about tech, they picture programming, robots or AI in their minds.

I want to tell the girls and women out there, that there are so many (fun) ways to get involved in the tech scene. And even if they decide to learn something that might sound weird or difficult (like a programming language), right now we have amazing tools to do it for free, and a network of great people that definitely would be glad to help you or guide you.

Pass it on!

I'm on it! This campaign is an example of how other women can inspire you, go ahead, read these stories and motivate yourself; whether you decide to get into a STEM career or pursue a new goal in your life (even non-techie), I support you, and I tell you: YOU CAN DO IT!

The Women in Tech campaign exists to help redefine what women in technology means in the 21st century. Started independently by a group of professional women who, after many impassioned discussions about women in tech knew we wanted to expand this definition beyond 'traditional' technology skills. To us, it includes most every current, emerging or evolving role within an organization. By featuring leaders and emerging leaders across industries who embody this we hope to collectively 'stand up', be proud of our place in the digital world and inspire young women or those new to the 'tech space' to get involved.