Vicki Apodaca is a native New Mexican and a University of New Mexico graduate. But she's spent most of the past decade working with startups and tech companies all over the world — from Perth, Australia, to Copenhagen, Denmark, and then a bit closer to home in Austin, Texas.
While in Austin, in January 2022, Apodaca co-founded StellarFi, a financial technology startup that helps people grow their credit scores through paying bills. After helping launch that fintech startup, she moved back to Albuquerque that summer, working as StellarFi's director of marketing remotely.
There are a lot of tech workers in a similar position to Apodaca — living in New Mexico but working for a startup or other company outside the state. David Tenorio is one of them.
Tenorio, who lives in Albuquerque, has worked remotely as a software engineer for Google, out of Irvine, California, for almost three years. He also has experience with Intel Corp. in Rio Rancho and with Cultivating Coders, a coding boot camp.
But while Apodaca and Tenorio are among many tech workers in similar positions, their time living and working in other places has shown them there's a need in New Mexico for more community — particularly for Hispanic tech workers, especially since Hispanic or Latino people make up over half the state's population.
So, Apodaca and Tenorio came up with an idea. The pair first met online through a nonprofit called Techqueria, a global community of Latiné tech professionals. It has chapters in nearly a dozen U.S. cities, including Austin, Denver and Los Angeles, as well as online resources like Slack groups and a job board.
Why not bring a Techqueria chapter to New Mexico, Apodaca and Tenorio thought?
Formalizing a Techqueria chapter takes a bit of work, Apodaca and Tenorio told New Mexico Inno. It requires growing a membership base in the area where one wants to set up a chapter and locking in financial support.
Apodaca and Tenorio are doing both right now — finding folks interested in becoming members, and talking with companies and organizations about sponsorship opportunities. A public LinkedIn group for the chapter, launched in late January, has almost 75 members currently, and Apodaca said the chapter is eyeing annual sponsorships worth $5,000.
Money would help fund different types of programming, including sponsoring local hackathons with judges and prizes and hosting tech talks to share relevant skills. Programming would scale, too, based on how much funding the New Mexico chapter pulls in, Tenorio said.
Mentorship for Latiné tech professionals in New Mexico would be another key component of the group.
"We want to support the local community," Apodaca said. "If there are a lot of boot camp graduates who are early on and they need mentorship or they need resume workshops or something, that's what we do. That's how we can help."
Apodaca and Tenorio have hosted two meet-ups for the unofficial chapter so far, aimed at garnering interest and hearing more about what the Hispanic tech community in New Mexico is looking for. Its next monthly meetup is scheduled for April 10.
One thing Apodaca and Tenorio have heard through those meet-ups, and through attending other local events, is a lack of connection.
"Whenever we talk to people, everyone feels the same way. We work in tech, we work remote, it'd be nice, as a remote worker, to be able to connect with other people in the industry and have work conversations but not with your co-workers," Apodaca said. "Having that network environment would be great."
With that clear need, Apodaca and Tenorio see a big opportunity. Finding corporate partners — whether through monetary sponsorships or not — could help realize that opportunity.
"One way to really expand our network and get plugged in and actually provide valuable resources is to partner with businesses," Apodaca said. "The thing about New Mexico is we have a lot of government-funded tech, which means there's a lot of money invested in tech, which is very positive for us. It's out there."
While Apodaca and Tenorio are still on the path to certification as an official Techqueria chapter, the two see many potential benefits to formally establishing such a group in New Mexico. Supporting the retention of graduates from universities in the state, connecting folks with jobs and, eventually, helping people launch promising startups in the Land of Enchantment.
They also would like to find a third chapter director to support the group as it continues to expand. Apodaca said that while she and Tenorio are both "relatively seasoned" in their careers, having someone with a different perspective "would be nice."
"Ultimately, a goal that I have in mind is I want people to say, 'I was hired because of a connection that I made through that organization,'" Tenorio said. "Being able to host events with local employers would be a great goal to work towards in the next year or two, and then continue to strengthen those connections."
