Laboratoria Explained

Laboratoria
Type:	Nonprofit
Purpose:	Technical and life-skills training for Latin American women to join the tech sector

Laboratoria is an organization empowering women who dream of a better future to start and grow careers in technology. It seeks this through totally remote bootcamps, focused on technical and life skills, aimed at women who haven´t been able to start their careers. After the bootcamp, they guide their graduates to find quality jobs in the tech sector. Laboratoria also has a very powerful community of more than 3,500 women who are each playing a key role in a more diverse and competitive digital economy.

History

Laboratoria was created to revert the disadvantages women face in accessing quality jobs in the growing digital economy. It began with a pilot training program for 15 women and rapidly expanded, with 3,500 graduates.

Since its foundation in Lima, Peru, in 2014, Laboratoria has expanded to Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, México, Panamá, Paraguay and Uruguay. Today, due to it being a remote first company, it has been able to reach more countries in Latin America and beyond. Women from different cities and regions have been able to go through the bootcamp, thanks to the absence of geographic boundaries. It also has over 120 team members working daily to have a more profound social impact in the region.

Over 3,500 women have graduated as web developers and UX designers, with an average job placement rate of 79%. Laboratoria is also a source of female tech talent for leading companies in a wide variety of industries. More than 1,100 companies have hired Laboratoria talent.

Awards and recognitions

• Mariana Costa was recognized in the Merco 2023 ranking, for her leadership work in Laboratoria, in the Technology category.
• Mariana Costa was selected by Bloomberg for its Catalysts program, which highlights founders, activists, entrepreneurs, policymakers, scientists, visionaries, and even elected officials whose remarkable work in business, philanthropy, and government, especially in emerging markets, demands recognition.
• Laboratoria was highlighted as one of the companies that leaves its mark on the digital ecosystem in the eWomen category of eCommerce Day Peru 2023, organized by the Lima Chamber of Commerce.
• Gabriela Rocha received the Latin American Leaders Award from The Global School for New Leadership in 2022.
• Mariana Costa was selected by Fortune magazine in its 40 Under 40 ranking in the Tech and Innovation section in 2022.
• Laboratoria was recognized as one of the 100 most promising edtech startups in Latin America and the Caribbean by HolonIQ in 2022.
• Laboratoria was selected to be part of the National Inclusive Employment Report (INEI) 2022 in Colombia, as part of the call for success stories.
• Forbes Peru places Mariana Costa among the 50 most powerful women in the country in 2022. The special issue of the magazine highlights the contribution of Peruvian women in different areas, such as business, economy, academia, art, science and technology, among other sectors. In order to choose the 50 women, the resources they manage in their organizations and the impact they generate in their communities were evaluated.
• Mariana Costa was chosen as one of the most influential, innovative and pioneering people in fintech, e-commerce, politics and digital infrastructure in the RoW100: Global Tech's Changemakers ranking (2022).^[1]
• McKinsey & Company recognizes Mariana Costa on its The Committed Innovator list, which highlights women in corporate, academic and entrepreneurial fields around the world who are creating groundbreaking breakthroughs in some of the most challenging issues on the planet. These women leaders are pioneering, expanding frontiers and building legacies in agriculture, banking, beauty, education, fashion, health and technology, 2021.^[2]
• Mariana Costa is recognized by Google.org as a "Leader to watch" in 2022. Google's philanthropic arm selected seven leaders in the world, including the Peruvian entrepreneur, the only representative from Latin America.^[3]
• Laboratoria was recognized as one of the 100 edtechs in Latin America in 2021 by HolonIQ, an intelligence platform that provides data and analysis of developments in the global market and annually publishes a ranking of the most promising startups in the region. The evaluation was made after a review of more than 2,000 edtechs.^[4]
• Mariana Costa was chosen by the Project Management Institute (PMI), an American organization with nearly 500,000 members in almost 100 countries, as one of the winners of the Future 50 in 2021, which features emerging leaders who are creating, building and transforming the world through remarkable projects, 2021.^[5]
• Bloomberg online presented a list of the 100 Innovators of 2021, in which they selected the Latinos who, during the pandemic, not only invented models, but also corrected their steps and even reinvented themselves to adapt to this new economic and social scenario.^[6]
• Mariana Costa Checa is part of the Wonderful Women of the World 2021 anthology, which – in comic format – shows the work of outstanding women around the world.^[7]
• Holon IQ 2020 Latam EdTech 100^[8]
• Transforming Lives Award A lquity, 2019^[9]
• Women Leading in Technology and Impact, Engineering for Change, 2018^[10]
• TEDxPlaceDeNations Speaker, 2018
• Equals in Tech Award – ITU, UN, Internet Society, 2018^[11]
• Change Agent Abie Award - AnitaB.org – Grace Hopper Celebration, 2018^[12]
• Ashoka Fellow – Mariana Costa, as Cofounder and CEO, since 2017 to the present day^[13]
• World Summit Awards, 2017.^[14]
• MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge – Winner Matching Category, 2016^[15]
• BBC – 100 Most Influential Women, 2016^[16]
• DAI Innovation Into Action Challenge, 2016^[17]
• Google Rise Awards, 2015.^[18]

Notes and References

1. Web site: RoW100: Global Tech's Changemakers . 2022-06-10 . Rest of World . en-US.
2. Web site: Women innovators continuing to change the world McKinsey . 2022-06-10 . www.mckinsey.com.
3. Web site: Google.org announces Leaders to Watch . 2022-06-10 . www.google.org . en.
4. Web site: 2021-09-22 . 2021 LATAM EdTech 100 . 2022-06-10 . HolonIQ . en-US.
5. Web site: PMI Future 50 .
6. Web site: Línea . Bloomberg . Los 100 Innovadores de 2021 en América Latina . 2022-06-10 . Bloomberg Línea . es.
7. Web site: 2020-03-08 . Wonderful Women of the World . 2022-06-10 . DC . en.
8. Web site: 2020-06-08 . HolonIQ LATAM EdTech 100 . 2022-06-10 . HolonIQ . en-US.
9. Web site: 2019 Awards . 2022-06-10 . Alquity . en-US.
10. Web site: 2018-10-18 . A Pause to Reflect and a Moment to Inspire at Impact.Engineered . 2022-06-10 . Engineering For Change.
11. Web site: EQUALS . 2018-09-22 . 2018 EQUALS in Tech Award winners reimagine the digital future . 2022-06-10 . equals . en.
12. Web site: Mariana Costa Checa: A Woman Technologist . 2022-06-10 . AnitaB.org . en-US.
13. Web site: Mariana Costa Ashoka Everyone a Changemaker . 2022-06-10 . www.ashoka.org . es-cl.
14. Web site: Mariana Costa WSA . 2022-06-10 . en.
15. Web site: Innovation for everyone . 2022-06-10 . MIT News Massachusetts Institute of Technology . en.
16. News: 2019-10-07 . BBC 100 Women 2016: Who is on the list? . en-GB . BBC News . 2022-06-10.
17. Web site: Innovation into Action Challenge Winners Chosen · DAI: International Development . 2022-06-10 . www.dai.com . en-us.
18. Web site: 2016-04-14 . Celebrating RISE Awards Winners Who Are Helping Increase Diversity in CS Education . 2022-06-10 . Google . en-us.