Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

The next 4 weeks are an important time for the Hispanic and Latinx community as we celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month. For those of you that don’t know, National Hispanic Heritage month marks the customs, legacies, and achievements of the Latinx community in the US, which I am honored to be a part of. We celebrate every year from September 15th (the significance of this day being the anniversary of independence of Latin American countries, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua), through October 15th. However, September 16th is a notable day of this period for me, as this is when we celebrate the Independence Day of Mexico, the country where I was born.

My mother is Mexican, and my father was from India, so I count myself fortunate to have a rich mixture of cultures growing up. We moved to the US when I was a very young, but I remember how my parents made their way in a new country which was so very different from their upbringing in virtually all aspects of life – language, food, and culture. I was so proud of their strength to face and adopt new opportunities and challenges as my mother became a Spanish teacher and my father an engineer at Boeing. Yet through it all, they never forgot where they came from and who they were as people. 

As a young child I was lucky to regularly travel back and forth to Mexico and those visits imbued in me my Mexican heritage in many indelible ways. Certainly, one of the primary aspects of my Mexican heritage is the importance of family. I have vivid memories of multiple generations living under one roof and reuniting every Sunday afternoon to cook and share a big family meal. This is something I have brought with me to Seattle and shared with my children as we get together every Sunday with their abuela Maria. The warmth and the generosity of the people that you encounter on the streets of Mexico is something that you feel at any Latinx gathering and I try and honor that warmth in all of my interactions with people no matter where I am.

Growing up with this Hispanic influence has also had a very positive impact on my career as it has encouraged me to build teams with that ‘family ethos’, where we support each other and always listen to the diverse perspectives of everyone in the team. This has never been more important given the state of our world, though I will admit it is much tougher since my family and I have historically been very 'huggy' ??. Without that in-person connection, it is so important that we take extra time on our video calls and social distancing interactions to prioritize the human part of connecting with others on the things that really matter in our lives.

I am immensely proud to work at a company like Microsoft that is so diverse and inclusive and deeply values Hispanic and Latinx employees, customers, and allies as we live our mission to empower every person on the planet to achieve more. Throughout the month, Microsoft will be highlighting a number of employee stories which not only cover legacies and achievements, but also stories of strength and resilience as we navigate these uncertain times. This is a great time to learn more about National Hispanic Heritage Month and connect and celebrate your friends, colleagues, and family members that are part of this amazing community.