Digital NEST Celebrates 10 Years!
The farming community of Watsonville, California, may seem solely agrarian to the unassuming eye. However, a hub of technological innovation headed by local youth and educators thrives within this small town. For a decade, Jacob Martinez, the CEO of Digital NEST, has been leading a future generation of Latine professionals into the workforce. Supported by fellow mentors and experts in the tech sphere, Latine youth in Digital NEST can build the necessary skills to thrive in an increasingly competitive job market.
2024 marks Digital NEST’s 10th anniversary. Since its inception in 2014, this organization has helped over 4,000 youth access the resources they need to thrive in the digital economy. More specifically, Digital NEST seeks to empower Latine youth in underserved areas, including its founding location of Watsonville and the surrounding towns of Salinas, Gilroy, Modesto, and Stockton.
Martinez and Digital NEST alumni Alex Chavez-Guerrero and Martín Vargas Vega took the stage at TEDxSantaCruz earlier this year to discuss the transformative power of networking in the professional sphere. Both Chavez-Guerrero and Vargas Vega grew up in Watsonville and encountered Martinez at a formative point in their education. After joining Digital NEST, the two were equipped with the tools to lead successful careers in technology. Chavez-Guerrero is currently a software engineer at Boombox, and Vargas Vega is a senior software engineer at LiveRamp.
Alex Chavez-Guerrero, Martín Vargas Vega, and Jacob Martinez (left to right).
Bridging the Gap: From Silicon Valley to the Fields
Unlike their white counterparts, Latine individuals have been historically excluded from the lucrative digital economy. Especially in farm-working and migrant communities like Watsonville, where many Latine families are not afforded the same opportunities available in urbanized areas, Latine youth are unable to pursue careers in technology. Vargas Vega is one example of a Digital NEST member raised in a farm-working family.
“Growing up, my world revolved around the fields,” says Vargas Vega in his TEDx talk, “where work began before the sun came up and ended well after it set. While other kids played, I worked, and I was exhausted at the end of each day.”
Vargas Vega recognized the importance of education in bringing himself and his parents out of poverty. Once introduced to software engineering in high school, he funneled his efforts into achieving this professional goal despite vital resources seeming out of his reach. While working as a high school guidance counselor, Vargas Vega heard Martinez talk to his students about providing the necessary technological supplies to advance their career interests. He became the 12th member of the Digital NEST in 2014 and, ever since then, has helped Latine youth like himself find footing in a field that once felt unattainable to him. He is now a Board Director for Digital NEST as well as a successful engineer and philanthropist.
“Watsonville—just 45 minutes away from Silicon Valley, the epicenter of technology, resources, opportunity, and dreams—is so close, but just so far away,” says Martinez. Although it began in Watsonville, his vision of Digital NEST encompasses the whole of the digital sphere. Martinez hopes to continue breaking down the barriers barring Latino youth from lucrative jobs by giving them a safe space to learn, grow, and thrive.
A Call to Action
In honor of Digital NEST’s 10th anniversary, Martinez is asking community members to donate to their DN10: A Decade of Voices campaign. If you want to invest in the future of local Latine youth in the growing digital sphere, please consider visiting their website to learn more!