IAAPA Attractions Expo 2017

Yvonne De La Peña
Director, BridgeUP: STEM
American Museum of Natural History


Yvonne De La Peña graduated with a B.S. in Computer Sciences from the University of Texas at Austin. An internship, and eventually full time job as a software engineer at a startup prompted her to move to Silicon Valley where she worked as a software engineer. Motivated by her own experience as a Latina in computing, Yvonne went on to obtain a PhD in Education at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her doctoral dissertation, funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF), explored the characteristics of after-school programs in supporting the development of programming skills and computing concepts by young Latinas. Recently hired as director of the BridgeUp: STEM program at the American Museum of Natural History, Yvonne feels fortunate to be able to continue helping youth discover the fun of programming and encouraging them to become designers and inventors with technology through her work.

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