At BILL, we serve small and midsize businesses (SMBs) from all walks of life. We’re passionate about these businesses because they play a critical role in our economy and are the heart of our communities. Their strength lies not only in their number (more than 30 million in the U.S. alone!), but also in their diversity. It’s this diversity that we celebrate at BILL every day.
For Hispanic Heritage Month this year, we wanted to celebrate the incredible impact that Hispanic, Latino/a, and Latinx SMBs have on our communities, and shine a light on the achievements of senior Latino/a leaders in tech. We also wanted to look at how BILL can positively impact the lives of the next generation of Hispanic, Latino/a, and Latinx tech leaders.
Here’s how BILL celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month, what we learned, and what we’re doing to make a difference:
1. Focusing on making a positive impact on the community
As the demand for software engineers and programmers continues to grow, coding boot camps have grown in popularity. But while boot camps may help solve the demand for skilled workers, they’re not enough to increase diversity in tech. While 41% of K-12 students in Silicon Valley are Latino, only 4% of tech employees identify as such. At BILL, we want to help improve this.
To boost future Latinx representation in tech and meaningfully support the community, BILL's engineering team organized a five-week coding boot camp program for low-income and first-generation students at Cristo Rey High School in San Jose, California. These students started the boot camp with no prior coding experience, and learned to build a mobile app in just over a month. The program intends to go beyond the initial boot camp and help them get internships and jobs in the future.
2. Harnessing the power of passion, purpose, platform, and perspective
We wanted to hear directly from the experiences of senior Hispanic leaders in tech, so we asked the Chairman of the Hispanic Technology Executive Council (HITEC), Guillermo Diaz, Jr., to speak to BILL employees.
In a talk, Guillermo shared a framework he called “The Four Ps.” Platform is your knowledge, job, and ethos. Purpose is your North Star and answers the question, “Why am I here?” Passion is the fuel for your goal and remembering where you came from. And perspective helps you look at opportunities from the other side of the bridge. This approach really resonated with BILL employees.
This framework helped Guillermo make the journey from a kid on the east side of Pueblo, Colorado, to the Chief Information Officer of Cisco, a multibillion-dollar company. Guillermo explained, “I learned the power of my passion and to always remember where I came from. By putting those together, I built my own luck.” He cited this as the fuel he needed to secure the job when the opportunity arose at Cisco.
BILL VP of Engineering, Sal Chavez, also drew on similar principles in his mission as the leader of the boot camp partnership with Cristo Rey High School. ”Cristo Rey is something I'm very passionate about,” he said. “Sometimes I get emotional because I see myself in those kids. I'm a first-generation Latino who grew up in a low-income family and didn't start learning English until I entered kindergarten. My mission is to help the next generation of Hispanics move from the classroom to the boardroom. I'm passionate about this because I empathize with the struggles Hispanics face today.”
3. Instilling self-belief to reach bigger goals
Self-belief is essential to success. It’s a core strategy Guillermo employs to inspire the next generation of leaders. When asked what advice he would give a young person starting their career, he recalled what his grandma would tell him when he was a boy. “Someone’s going to do that job,” she would say to him. “Why not you?”
“That question just buzzes in my head every day,” Guillermo explained. “Because often we think we can’t do it or get caught up in impostor syndrome. Whenever someone starts a new thing or has aspirations, they’re scared. I don't care what color they are. However, someone is going to make a difference. Why not you?” Pairing your mission with your individual strengths sets you on a path that’s more likely to make a difference.
4. Focusing on genuine inclusion efforts year-round
Guillermo and Sal chatted with Bill’d Vida about how diversity and inclusion have evolved in the corporate world, from cringe-worthy events of the past, to more meaningful efforts today, like employee resource groups. Guillermo explained, “When Hispanic Heritage Month started, it was just a few days, and now it’s become a month. It's not about a month anymore–it's about 365 days. We’ve got to be ingrained with the business every single day.”
Guillermo and Sal also recognized diverse identities within the Latinx community, and that regardless of how people identify, inclusion and authenticity are key. Guillermo shared a story of giving his mother a signed copy of a book co-written by his CTO, Jose Morey and great friend Frank Carabajal, entitled Latinx Business Success.
“I gave her the book,” Guillermo said. “And she asked, ‘What’s Latinx?’ And I thought, okay, here we go.”
But instead of diving into a lengthy explanation of the term, Guillermo asked his mom if she had ever been called Latina or Hispanic growing up. She replied that she hadn’t. He inquired if she had been called Chicana. She said that term was used in the 70s, but that in her lifetime, she was mostly referred to as Mexican. As they continued their discussion, Guillermo’s mom stopped and said “I don't care what you call me as long as you include me.”
5. Understanding that there’s a lot more to be done to create genuine equity, diversity, and inclusion
It’s important to celebrate the wins and progress made. We wrapped up the Hispanic Leadership Summit with a screening of the award-winning documentary Campesinos: America’s Unsung Heroes, a dance performance from Cristo Rey High School, and an art exhibition from the inspiring artist Nacho Moya.
But it’s also crucial to recognize that we still face a long road ahead. For example, Gabriela Chavez-Lopez, Director of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley, shared during her talk with BILL employees that Latinas are still one of the lowest-paid groups in the country, often get misrepresented in the media, and remain virtually absent from many high-growth industries.
The bottom line? It's imperative to continue providing opportunities for education, mentorship, and more to empower our industry and community of SMBs. While we may not have all the answers yet, we’re committed to finding solutions and sharing our learnings.
BILL is hiring! Check out our open job opportunities to join our team—and our many inspirational internal ERG groups.
