Angela Piñeyro De Hoyos is a big believer in education; she was inspired early. Growing up and going to school in Austin, she watched her single mom work to get her doctorate in informational technology.
"It was very easy to see myself working in educational and technology related fields," De Hoyos said. "In middle school and high school, I met kids who didn't have that experience. Kids told me, 'You're the first kid who made me feel not ashamed to be Hispanic.' "
Her mother, Dr. Maria Lourdes De Hoyos Guevara, is director of data services at the Texas Association of Charter Schools. And Angela, 27, spends work time and free time making sure kids get some of the same opportunities she did growing up. She's involved in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) initiatives through her employer General Motors as well as outside of work as she has been for years, whether it's in Pflugerville where GM's Innovation Center is located or in Mexico. On Friday, for instance, she spent the day at River Oaks Elementary School in Pflugerville as part of her volunteer work with A World In Motion, which takes students through the process of creating and building an engineering project.
Getting involved takes time and energy, but she says it's something anyone could do for their community.
"What's the same everywhere is there are gaps to be filled," De Hoyos said. "Just go find a school that is close to your neighborhood and ask them what they need. Ask how you can be of service and get busy.
De Hoyos joined GM's Austin Innovation Center in February 2015 where she' a full-time IT Project Manager, helping deliver IT projects on time and on budget for the whole company. She calls it among the "nerdiest" of the company's operations. Although it's known as an automaker, she says GM definitely is a tech company. "It just so happens that the technology is on four wheels," she said.
A former employee at Google and Dell, De Hoyos says she's impressed by GM's commitment to diversity. "It's honestly the most diverse company I've ever worked at," she said, "Other companies make it seem so hard. From what I can tell, it's really ingrained in the company culture."
At GM, she's also helped form partnerships with groups such as LULAC, Univision and Girls Who Code. She's part of the General Motors Hispanic Initiative Team
De Hoyos moved to Austin from Mexico when she was five years old and received her U.S. citizenship last year. She went to school in Austin, making Spider House her teen hangout, before graduating from the University of Texas at Austin. She lived in Paris, Washington D.C. and San Francisco before returning to Austin in 2012.
When she's not involved in STEM initiatives such as Coding as a Second Language and World in Motion, she enjoys singing and playing guitar, as well as spending time outdoors in Austin. If she weren't so busy, she said she'd spend more time watching Netflix: she's a huge "Doctor Who" fan.
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