Episode 149: Un Cafecito With a Woman in STEM: Bea Mendez Gandica
“Un Cafecito with a Woman in STEM” is a sub-series of SWE’s Diverse podcast. In this Diverse episode, Marissa Doyen, Hispanic Heritage Month Lead within SWE’s Latinos Affinity Group, speaks with Bea Mendez Gandica, Security Program Manager at Microsoft, and the CEO and founder of Nuevo Foundation. Listen to their lively discussion about Bea’s journey as a double-minority in the tech field as well as her thoughts on and dedication to mentoring, including the Nuevo Foundation’s work.
Beatris A. Mendez Gandica
Security Program Manager
Microsoft
Beatris A. Mendez Gandica is from San Cristobal, Venezuela. She is an engineer working as a Program Manager at Microsoft. In this role, she manages the daily operations of the usage billing pipeline for Azure Data services. Her work is essential to Microsoft as it ensures that Azure’s customer billing is secure, scalable, and correct.
Beatris’ has a passion for giving back to the community. In 2018 she started a nonprofit organization, Nuevo Foundation, where she works to prepare underrepresented students to become tomorrow’s leaders. Nuevo Foundation’s mission is to inspire kids to be curious, confident, and courageous by discovering the world of STEM. To date, the nonprofit has taught more than 9,500 students about computer science and STEM education across thirty-five countries and Puerto Rico.
In 2019, Beatris was awarded the HACR Young Hispanic Corporate Achievers’ 40 under 40 award, the UWEC Outstanding Recent Alumni award, and delivered the Winter 2019 commencement address for her alma matter in Wisconsin. Lastly, she was selected to be one of the ambassadors for the American Association for the Advancement of Science IF/THEN to help shift the way our country—and the world—thinks about women in STEM.
Check out more SWE podcasts:
- Exploring the Perspective of Global Members Living and Working in the US
- How R&D Supports Inclusivity, Growth, and Opportunity for Women Engineers
- Un Cafecito With a Woman in STEM: Melanie Weber
- Combining Engineering and Research at the Air Force Research Laboratory
- Susan Uthayakumar on Challenging the Status Quo to Forge Your Own Career Path
- APAHM 2021 – SASE CEO Khánh Vu on Allyship for the AAPI Community
- Smita Tharoor on Addressing Unconscious Bias in Our Professional and Personal Lives
