Sabio is no ordinary place. It’s a place that recognizes a few really important things and is doing a little something to change the world. They know that there are more tech jobs in this country than we are able to fill, and are seizing that as an opportunity to create a stronger and more diverse workforce.
They use technology training as an artful tool to uplift communities that suffer from high unemployment rates and a lack of educational resources. They are here to give women and minorities the resources and opportunities to break into tech and create a vibrant and innovative workforce. Sabio is a developer training program “born out of necessity, desire and hope.”
Meet the woman behind the mission: Liliana Monge.
How did you get started with Sabio?
Sabio was started by Gregorio Rojas and Liliana Aide Monge, a Latino husband and wife team, that wanted to increase the number of women, and people of color that were part of the tech workforce.
What led you here?
Gregorio Rojas has 14 years in the tech workforce, and he grew tired of being the only Latino in his tech team, and he decided to do something to actively increase diversity in tech.
What is your favorite thing about your school?
I love that Sabio is all about empowering folks that want to transform their lives via technology.
What makes them different?
Our school is unquie because we specifically call out that women, and people of color should be coding. We make an active and intentional effort to make sure that more women are coding.
What is your educational background?
Gregorio and I both have BAs from East Schools. Neither of us have CS degrees.
What is the importance of learning code in today’s work force?
As a recent New Yorker Article mentioned, the world is currently being rebuilt via code, and it is such an exciting time to be part of this “tech revolution”.
Why do you teach the specific coding languages that you teach?
We teach the stack we know well, .Net – HTML5/ CSS3, .Net/ASP, SQL
What are the advantages of that coding language?
.Net is used by tons of great enterprise companies, so when our folks graduate they can secure jobs with great national companies that will offer them an opportunity to learn a ton and be part of a great established organization.
What kinds of backgrounds do your students come from?
Very varied. We have folks that recently graduated from high school, and some folks that are looking to come out of retirement. We welcome anyone that is willing to work hard, and that wants to learn to code.
What are some things that students who graduate from your school do afterwards?
They will find jobs as full-stack web developers throughout Southern CA.
What is your favorite thing to do in LA in your free time?
Our favorite thing is the beach 🙂
When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Love love to ride my bike!
What is your favorite book, and when was the last time you actually picked up a hard copy of a book?
Favorite book is Born to Run – great story about the power of the human spirit and our natural ability to run our asses off! Picked up a hard cover book last night, I love to read real books.
You get to have afternoon tea with whoever you want! Who is it?
Bill Clinton, I hear he is really really great in-person, knows a little about everything!
If you could order any food and have it in front of you right now what would it be?
Chocolate Cake
Who would play you in a movie about your life?
Selena Gomez
What is something you’re really excited about right now?
Excited to be working with so many energetic and brilliant folks that are all working to move this nation forward via the power of code.
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