“Hispanics are more rare in the tech world,” says Elias Barboza. “We have to show ourselves and push ourselves a lot more to show that we can give a lot to the tech world.”
A resident of Hayward and a graduate of Cal State East Bay, Barboza is enjoying a career in the technology industry and credits his career launch to an intern job with a unique non-profit organization. In August, Barboza began working as the marketing director for a tech company in Fremont. He had just completed an accelerated work experience with Manos Accelerator, a mentorship-driven incubator program that provides education, business resources and guidance for start-up companies led by Latinos.
As a communications intern at Manos Accelerator in San Jose, Barboza had many different duties, including management of the organization’s social media. In addition to supporting Mano’s communications, he worked with the startup companies that are part of the Manos incubator program.“Manos totally changed my whole career path and helped in so many ways,” says Barboza. “Manos boosted my interest in the tech industry and helped me grow by giving me a much better understanding of Silicon Valley.”
Barboza makes it clear that his time at Manos Accelerator was a very exciting experience.
“I met so many people every week and got to work with many others in tech,” he says. “I met CEO’s of international companies, venture capitalists, investors, and workers from just about every kind of technology company in only a few months.”
Attending events and meeting and working with tech entrepreneurs was a crash course education for Barboza.
“I learned a lot and I liked visiting different companies throughout the Bay Area,” he says.
The young executive says he really enjoyed visiting the Google and Facebook campuses - Demo Day at Google is one event that stands out in his memory.
“Everyone had such a positive vibe, pitching their ideas and enjoying drinks and food. Seeing Jennifer Lopez wasn’t bad either,” he adds.
Known for her singing and acting, Lopez took a different role as a featured guest at the Google event. Her participation at the event is related to her stated goal of creating a $1 billion business empire that includes the tech industry.
Barboza clearly had an exciting ride at his intern job, which provided the exact kind of experience he needed to work in the tech industry.
"Elias was great to work with,” says Sylvia Flores, CEO of Manos Accelerator. “He loved to experience the entrepreneur world for Latino startups."
Flores says that Barboza was able to land his present high tech job because of the experience he gained through the Manos intern program.
“The Intern program at Manos is a great way of learning how the startup and venture capital ecosystem works in Silicon Valley,” she adds.
Today, Barboza is Marketing and Public Relations Director at HandScape, a technology startup in Fremont that’s developed a touch-sensitive case for phones and tablets that allows the user to tap, touch, and swipe the back of a device for greater control.
Barboza focuses on developing marketing strategies, working with news media, writing company news releases, and monitoring the company's social media.
At Manos Accelerator, CEO Flores is focused on an exciting list of programs and events to create a new ecosystem for Latino entrepreneurs and investors. The goals and mission of Manos will be the focus of an upcoming article. Stay tuned.