MotherBoard Speaker Feature – Ines Guerrero

Ahead of MotherBoard’s in-person event on May 18th, 4pm – 7pm “Mind the Gap: How Companies Can Close the Parent Divide in Tech” at MOO HQ in London, they had a chance to speak with one of the speakers, Ines Guerrero, Software Engineer at Thriva Health.

A bit of background, who are you, what do you do and where do you work?

My name is Ines, I’m from Costa Rica, and I am a mum and a tech career-changer. I used to work as a Project Manager in the charity sector until I decided to move into tech a few years ago. Currently, I work as a Full Stack Developer at Thriva. 

Why is it so important for everyone to keep the topic of diversity in tech at the top of the agenda?

The list is endless but in summary, we still have so much work to do. We need everyone, particularly, people in leadership and decision-making positions to understand that having a diverse workforce not only consists of hiring people of colour, people that are neurodiverse, parents, etc., but also of tailoring opportunities within the company to make sure that everyone has equal access to grow and develop. It has been proven time and time again that diversity leads to success, but that is only true if you have diversity at the top. It is not just about opening the door, but also the opportunities from within as one size does not fit all.

What are you most looking forward to about the MotherBoard/ MOO event?

Seeing people face-to-face. There haven’t been many in-person events post-pandemic and networking is a great way to share stories and experiences that help everyone feel less alone. So many mums find it hard to juggle work and family and meeting people that are in similar situations can provide support and guidance in many ways.