Liberty Latin America Partners with The Society of Women Coders to Support Greater Gender Equality in Tech

Liberty Latin America Partners with The Society of Women Coders to Support Greater Gender Equality in Tech

08 Mar 2022 in

 

LIBERTY LATIN AMERICA PARTNERS WITH THE SOCIETY OF WOMEN CODERS TO SUPPORT GREATER GENDER EQUALITY IN TECH

  • 800 young women to benefit from digital literacy initiative as part of International Women’s Day celebrations

Denver, Colorado – March 8, 2022: Liberty Latin America Ltd. (“Liberty Latin America” or “LLA”) has joined together with the Society of Women Coders to launch an initiative aimed at empowering the next generation of women leaders in technology fields. The partnership will provide the opportunity for 800 young women across the Caribbean and Latin America to participate in a 20-week virtual course focused on digital literacy, web development, and coding skills. This effort is part of Liberty Latin America’s 2022 celebration of International Women’s Day and its ongoing commitment to pursue greater equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Kerry Scott, Chief People Officer, Liberty Latin America, commented on the partnership saying, "Creating opportunities for young women to learn more about technology and pursue careers in STEM fields is an investment in our future. Through our collaboration with the Society of Women Coders we are helping to train the next generation of leaders, providing a valuable learning opportunity, and equipping young women with the knowledge, skills, and access that will serve them well into the future. As we celebrate International Women’s Day under the theme #BreakTheBias, this is a tangible way we are contributing to the push for greater gender equality.”

“We are proud to partner with Liberty Latin America on such an important effort to provide access and technology training for young women,” said Kavya Krishna, co-founder and CEO of the Society of Women Coders. “Through our work around the world, we have seen first-hand the impact that can be made in communities by empowering women and teaching them digital literacy skills. This program provides not only technical training, but offers mentorship, leadership skills, and networking that will be beneficial long after the course is completed.”

In addition to this partnership, Liberty Latin America will celebrate International Women’s Day by bringing the Company’s nearly 12,000 employees together through a virtual Summit on March 8, 2022. The event will focus on ways to work together to combat and break bias, key initiatives to support young women in the field of technology, and perspectives from external gender equity experts on how to build a more inclusive world. Over the past four years, the Company has implemented a number of innovative policies regarding parental leave, flexible working environments, gender neutral hiring practices, and employee assistance programs. Thanks to these efforts and others underway, the Company is close to its goal of 50% gender equitable representation across the business.

Last year, the Company also published its gender-based violence (GBV) policy and made it publicly available on its website for other organizations to learn from and utilize. During the virtual Summit internal leaders and regional experts will discuss the impact of Liberty Latin America’s GBV policy and how important it is for companies to lead in this arena. On the topic of gender-based violence, Scott said, “In many ways, gender-based violence has been a shadow pandemic. Across our region, statistics show a surge in cases of violence and we strongly believe that more needs to be done. We are fully committed to playing a meaningful role in helping to eradicate gender-based violence within the communities where we live and work. We hope that by making our policy public that others can learn from it and adopt their own measures to join in the fight.”

Scott concluded, "International Women’s Day is a moment in time when the global community can rally together around the important topic of gender equality, but the work doesn’t stop there. Our goal at Liberty Latin America is to focus on equality, diversity, and inclusion year-round and contribute to making our communities and our world a more inclusive place. Through the actions we take as a company, and our advocacy in our communities, we can make a positive difference."