photographer: carly wollaert © | make-up artist: violeta marinova from art of colors
manuela castrillon
software engineer ii at uber
about
i’m a latina software engineer, speaker, mentor, and community builder who believes tech education can open doors and bridge socioeconomic gaps. since 2016, i’ve supported women in tech initiatives through mentoring, speaking, and creating spaces where more women feel they belong. i care deeply about helping more women see that there is space for them in this industry. today, i work on the payments platform at uber, and the journey has reminded me how powerful it is to see someone like you in the room, and to realize you belong there too.
what or who inspired you to pursue your chosen career?
when i was in high school, a teacher introduced us to building simple html websites. it became my favorite class and made me realize i wanted to keep learning how to do that — and do it better — which led me to pursue software engineering. he may never know it, but that class changed my life. it also taught me a lasting lesson: we often think we need to be experts to share knowledge, or that only complex things matter. but sometimes one small lesson can open a whole new world for someone else, and that’s why i believe so much in the power of mentoring.
uber
at uber, we are committed to creating a workplace where every person thrives. we believe that great minds don’t think alike. this is one of our cultural values. a huge part of this is building a diverse team in our amsterdam site, which serves as our emea hq. with almost 80 nationalities represented, we already know the value of different experiences and perspectives. this is no truer than in our tech teams, where we build solutions that support earners, riders and eaters alike. our partnership with equals in amsterdam highlights just some of our amazing talent and gives you a glimpse of what it is like to work at uber.