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The #LatinaGeeks San Diego Chapter officially kicked off in May of 2018. In the short time since its launch, this chapter has seen a tremendous amount of interest from local Latinas, as well as some amigas to the north.

We are fortunate to say that our UC San Diego Extension hosts are one of the 15 best universities in the world and this is why we were so excited to partner with them. Extension is a leading resource for the latest trends in research, innovation and application. UC San Diego Extension harnesses the power of education to transform lives. Their unique educational formats support lifelong learning and meet the evolving needs of students, businesses and the larger community.

Our #LatinaGeeks team offered Social Media Marketing and SEO workshop and over 50 women checked on Saturday, August 18— all were engaged the entire four hours allotted to the class.

Our instructors are top notch, here is a little about them:

Marketing via social media, Sherry Nouraini, Ph.D.

Founder/Managing Editor at Science Communication Journal Club Sherry Nouraini, Ph.D., runs Captive Touch, a social media consulting, management and education agency. Nouraini is also the founder of Open Social Media Initiative, a weekly live video broadcast dedicated to holding open discussions about the art and science of social media. Her past experience includes serving as marketing director for the Moms in Business Unite Conference, and founder/CEO of Mom Business Associates. Nouraini is known for her creative marketing and social media campaigns and her love of teaching.

SEO,  Alan Bush, B.A.

Alan Bush is certified in advanced search engine marketing strategies by Search Engine World. He is an internet marketing strategist working on SEO with the latest optimization, content distribution, influencer outreach as well as search engine marketing techniques and strategies in conjunction with web analytics and social media marketing. Bush is also a public speaker, panelist, co-creator and co-host of two premiere internet marketing podcasts that have received international attention. Since 2014, he has been an Extension instructor of SEO and marketing, providing hands on teaching of basic and advanced methods of SEO, including proper website architecture, code optimization, link earning techniques, content marketing strategies, as well as social media, local SEO and white hat versus black hat tactics. He also teaches web analytics classes, giving an overview of various web analytics platforms designed to monitor website traffic and performance using tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, SEMRush, SpyFu, Ahrefs, Google AdWords, social media analytics and various free and paid tools for keyword search, website traffic monitoring, link analysis and overall website performance.

Bush is currently the director of strategy at Ignite Visibility where he is responsible for the strategic direction and oversight of SEO marketing campaigns, working with senior management, project management teams, social media, PPC, digital PR specialists and creative content departments.

During the workshop, all chapter members had a chance to collaborate and do in-class assignments that gave them an opportunity to meet like minded Latinas that want to break the glass ceiling and keep growing in their careers. They were even more excited when we announced that UC San Diego Extension offered one lucky mujer a free course (valued at $700) in tech or digital marketing. All they had to do is share their experience via social media. Our winner will be selected later this week.

UC San Diego Extension extended an even more generous offer to our #LatinaGeeks members.

In celebration of our recent collaboration, UC San Diego Extension is offering a 10% discount to #LatinaGeeks members on any Marketing or Digital Marketing course (both online-and in-class).  To receive your discount code, contact fodonnel@ucsd.edu and mention #LatinaGeeks.

Find the right course for you at extension.ucsd.edu/digitalmarketing  or extension.ucd.edu/marketing

Many of the attendees come from diverse backgrounds and have interest and fields in common; tech entrepreneurship, social media presence, business and finance. It’s definitely a good time for us to find our inner geek. Our #LatinaGeeks platform also allows networking and job opportunities among each other.

Continuing our partnership with UC San Diego Extension

Since our partnership worked out to so well, we are excited to plan our next session with UC San Diego Extension in the Winter 2018.  Our community has requested topics such as Advanced Excel and Coding bootcamp.

In fact, our San Diego chapter has already started planning out the remaining events for fall 2018. A few events to look forward to will include a fireside chat with local Latinas that have proven success stories in our community. We are also working on a partnership with a local organization to collect special accessories for a local women’s shelter at this event. Stay tuned for more information for this awesome event in November.

Quotes from our social media + SEO attendees:

• So proud to be Latina, proud to be a member of this fantastic group, proud to be surrounded Latinas eager to learn! I love @latinageeks!
• So thankful for this opportunity to connect with other #latinas, be inspired by their personal journeys through business, and feel empowered by the information that was passed on to me! TODAY I leave @ucsandiegoextension a little more knowledgeable and ready to bring @saborabaja to the next level. Thank you @latinageeks for making this possible!

To sign up for our free #LatinaGeeks membership, please join here. We look forward to seeing you at the next event or workshop. In the meantime, keep embracing your inner geek.

Visit our #LatinaGeeks Facebook page to view all photos from our event.