79 (English) Peruvian in the South & Opportunities to Work Abroad with Ashleigh Sisneros
Ashleigh Sisneros is an Information Technology Specialist and an Air Force Veteran. A ‘Network Administrator’ by trade, she has worked in all facets of IT with various government agencies. Having achieved early career success, she has made it her mission to help other Latina women in tech.
At 17 she enlisted into the Air Force as a guard member for the State of Louisiana. Having lived through Katrina and other hurricanes, she remembered those in uniform who would hand out water and lifesaving supplies, and knew she wanted to be a part of that. She served for 10 years, had 2 deployments, was activated for hurricane and state missions, and served at the nation’s capital during the 2020 inauguration.
Ashleigh drew on her military and technical training and at the age 21 got a position with Hewlett Packard (HP) at the Marine Reserve Headquarters as IT Specialist. She was the youngest female and only Latina, a common thread throughout her career. A year into her contract, a new company DXC technology picked up her contract and she was promoted to Deployment Supervisor. She led a travel team of 6 technicians across the United States upgrading software at various military bases. As that contract came to an end, Ashleigh found herself with an offer to work at The Department of Homeland Security. As a Network Voice Analyst, she worked behind the scenes connecting all the agencies ranging from CIA, FBI and the White House in important tele-conference calls.
Throughout her career postings she was often the only female and only Latina as today Latin and Hispanic women only make up 2% of the tech industry. Ashleigh’s supervisor at Homeland Security was the first female she had encountered in a position of leadership, and it truly inspired her. She is now a mentor for Latinas in Tech, a non-profit that focuses on Professional Development and Mentorship. Ashleigh also does career day talks with young high schoolers to educate them on the many avenues for entering the tech space.
Today Ashleigh is currently working at the Department of Defense Educational Activity in Naples, Italy. She spends her free time traveling and trying to achieve her fun goal, to eat Peruvian food in each new country she visits! Ashleigh is first-generation and proud of her heritage as she always is trying to introduce people to Peru’s rich culture and food.
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