In Real Life with Glaucia Lemos and Cynthia Zanoni—Helping girls and women into STEM careers

When she was a student growing up in Brazil, Glaucia Lemos found herself enthralled with the computer game, “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego.” She credits the game for piquing her interest in software and helping push her to obtain a university degree—the first in her family to do so.??

Across the country, Cynthia Zanoni was equally invested in Pokémon. In fact, her first experience as a developer was creating a library of characters from the game.??

As young women on their own paths, they didn’t yet know each other, but their interest in gaming was pivotal for them—it’s what sent them into tech careers.???

Today, Glaucia and Cynthia are both cloud advocates at Microsoft, and as they told me in our short interview, are both passionate about helping empower other girls and women embark upon careers in STEM. They’re active in WoMakersCode, the largest community of women in technology in Latin America.??

Cynthia is the CEO and founder of the organization, which began as a collective and is now a non-profit, aimed to inspire, train, and uplift women in technology careers. Currently, women represent only 39% of IT professionals and 16.5% of STEM students in Brazil, something WoMakersCode aims to change. Representation matters, and Glaucia and Cynthia feel it’s important for women to see others in the tech field and have women's non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to demystify the field and encourage more women to enter it.?

To-date, WoMakersCode has served more than 250,000 women in Brazil through events, mentoring and bootcamps, with aspirations to expand further. Recently, Cynthia received the United Nations Most Engaged CEO Award in recognition of her work promoting gender and racial equity in technology.?

“We want to keep expanding the work we’re doing here in Brazil and increase our presence in other Portuguese speaking countries. At end of the day, the main goal is not only to teach, but help other women land a job in tech,” Cynthia said.???

This goal is especially relevant as AI and today’s pace of change becomes a larger factor in tech careers, Glaucia told me.??

“AI is an opening door for new possibilities to learn, grow, and take our careers to the next level,” she said. “I've embraced AI, especially as a valuable tool to create content aimed toward women who want to enter STEM careers and expand our reach.”?

When I asked them what advice they’d give to anyone looking to create a career in tech, Cynthia summed it up well: “Be bold. Believe in your dreams and abilities and remember that technology is an incredible field because someone, at some point, decided to take the first step.”?

Glaucia and Cynthia, I'm super impressed with the work you're doing to help women in Brazil and elsewhere get the resources they need to follow their dreams. Your example is inspiring and changes lives—thank you for doing what you do!??