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Working to solve the mysteries of preterm birth. Joining me in the studio right now is wendy armstrong. She and her husband volunteer with the march of dimes board of directors, and their family has been a march of Dimes Mission family. Their daughter london was born premature at 25 weeks. We are very, very happy to have you here today. And you and i were both fans of the march of dimes, so tell us a little bit about that. Sure. The march of dimes is a leading organization that is trying to fight the battle against prematurity. As you mentioned, 1 in 10 babies is born premature. My daughter london was born premature, as well. A mircopreemie, right . Right, she was a mircopreemie. She was born under two pounds. I had a really easy pregnancy, and then all of a sudden at 23 weeks, which is roughly halfway through your pregnancy, my water broke. We were stunned. Cheryl, we didnt realize that babies could come that early, much less survive. And shes so tiny there. And so you said something about much less survive the doctors didnt really offer you much hope in the beginning. They didnt. In the beginning, they recommended that we induce labor and provide comfort care and let london die in our arms. The statistics just were not in our favor, and we called all our family in from the east coast to have an opportunity to meet our daughter. And then, so what happened . How did go forward, turn into such a positive thing . Well, we decided that we were going to move forward with the pregnancy and. No matter what. Love london no matter whatno matter what disability she might face that we wanted to give her a chance. And when i was 25 weeks pregnant, we had exhausted all our options. She was born 25 weeks. She weighed 1 pound, 15 ounces. Wow. She was about the length of a ruler. She was just this tiny, tiny little thing that didnt even look like a human baby. Now, you have a little doll here. I do. Thats sort of a sample of what she might have looked like back then . This is pretty close to what london looked like when she was born. In fact, this my ring. We put this on london when she was about a week old. It fit over her arm. It also fit over her leg. So thats just to give you a sense of scale of how tiny she truly was. So she was in the hospital for more than three months. I mean, that alone must have been terrifying, because you couldnt even see her, and then you finally got her home, and so that was another journey. Right, exactly, cheryl. She was in the hospital for 102 days. We call her the Million Dollar baby. The medical bills were in excess of 1 million for her nicu stay. But when we got home, the second part of our journey started. She was in isolation for the first year. We had to make sure that her lungs had the chance to fully heal and fully develop. She had countless hours of therapy. It started with physical therapy to literally teach her how to roll over. We moved on to speech therapy, as well as occupational therapy. So thats hundreds of hours of therapy that she needed just to catch up to her peers that were born full term and healthy. I got a chance to meet her before the show started. Shes adorable. She looks fantastic. How is she doing now . She doing great. Shes four and a half. Shes super spunky. Shes very feisty. The nurses told us the second she was born they said, you know, we have a good feeling about her. She came out and shes just feisty right off the bat. She loves life. She has this joy for life that is just contagious, and i attribute it to her early start. She chose to be here, she fought to be here. And you got a lot of support form the march of dimes through this. We had a lot of support from the march of dimes, cheryl. They funded the development of a drug called surfactant, which was administered to london shortly after she was born, and it enabled her lungs to develop. And it helped get us off the ventilator as quickly as possible, and i think that is the reason why she has healthy lungs today. Its a miracle. Truly is a miracle. But a lot of Science Behind it, as well. There is. Well, congratulations. I know you have a second child, as well, and that child is healthy, and thank you for being the parent who is sharing this message, you and your husband both. Oh, thank you for having us. We appreciate it. All right. We do have to take a little bit of a break right now. When we come back, were going to learn about some of the specific medical breakthroughs that have helped save countless infant lives. So stay with us. Well be right back. Welcome back to beyond the headlines. We are talking about healthy babies and the dangerous risks of preterm birth. One of the worlds smallest surviving premature babies was able to go home after many months in the intensive care. Baby elayah faith was born 14 weeks early at just 10 ounces. She was born in november 2015. Now that is lighter than a can of soda. She faced months of blood transfusions and a very careful diet and was up to nearly six pounds when she left the hospital. Doctors arent sure what Health Problems she may face down the road, but they said that getting to this point was nothing short of a miracle. Joining in the studio right now from Santa Clara Valley Medical Center is dr. Balaji govindaswami. He is the chief of neonatology and director of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and a volunteer with the march of dimes. And were here to thank the march of dimes for all the good work theyre doing. And youve helped be a leader in that field, as well. Some of the history, first. I dont think people realize march of dimes has been around for a long time. As you probably have heard, cheryl, march of dimes was founded by president roosevelt to conquer the disease of polio, and that was eradicated a few decades ago. And then the march of dimes went on to fighting for the cause of birth defects and preventing birth defects in newborns by a variety of interventions in including folic acid supplementation and the National Food and grain supply and in florida orange juice and more recently in bean flour. And in the last couple of decades, theres been a greater and growing focus on the health of pregnant women and the outcomes for infants at birth, healthy babies at birth and preventing the epidemic of babies born too soon. The preterm birthrate we read some of the numbers earlier, and i just cant believe theyre so high. I mean, its shocking to think that in this day and age, with all the modern medicine we have, that its still so high. Yeah, its almost 10 nationwide and recently, for the first time in eight years, weve seen a slight uptick of the preterm birthrate from 9. 57 to 9. 63 . This means 2,000 more babies were affected by being born too soon at a tremendous cost to babies, their families, and to society. Nationally, we estimate that about 26 billion a year is spent on the medical and the societal costs of taking care of babies born too soon. We had heard that wendy was concerned that there might be some sort of disability, and the disabilities are really severe. Sure, the major groups are cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness, and learning disability at school age. And luckily there is some preliminary data that may be not just are preterm births declining overall compared to prior decades, but some of these disabilities are on the decline, as well. Well, thats the good news. That is, indeed. What are some of the risk factors and some preventive measures that mothers can take . So, we usually worry about the majority of women who have babies born too soon have done nothing wrong and are its just a biological phenomenon thats little understood in the majority of cases. But risk factors include extremes of body weight. If women are too skinny preconception or too overweight, they might have a higher risk of preterm birth. Also smoking may result in higher risk. And of course, multiple gestations a risk factor for preterm birth. The World Health Organization recommends a threeyear interpregnancy interval, so thats generally healthy for the mother to recover. Its also healthy for future babies. We heard a little bit from wendy about how horrible her journey was and how scary that was for her. What is it like from your vantage point, and you see this all the time, unfortunately for those parents. Yeah. Luckily, i think weve become better at having more support for families such as wendys in the neonatal icu. We usually have parent advocates that have often gone through the same issues themselves and have walked a mile in their shoes. Mm. So, at our hospital, we have two mothers who have had babies in the nicu that are around to support the families in addition to all the staff, physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, physical therapists that these babies and families need. So, a lot of it is sort of expectations management. Now, youre deeply involved with the march of dimes. So what is your role, and what do you want people to know about it . Well, what i want to know is its important to support the march of dimes because we are an organization that truly has invested a lot of dollars in the prevention of prematurity and research for the betterment of health of women and children. And were the only organization to have conquered the initial mission that was set out, which was the polio. And most foundations are still battling or trying to conquer the disease that they were established. So, the march of dimes has a great track record of success in fulfilling its mission, and im hoping that with more support from the public and awareness we can make things better for women and children. Well said. Thank you for all your good work. I appreciate it, doctor. Thank you, cheryl. All right, we do have to take another break. When we come back, were gonna learn about some of the Exciting Research that is helping to reduce preterm birth, so stay with us. Well be right back. Who are these people . The Energy Conscious people among us say small actions can add up to something. Humongous. A little thing here. A little thing there. Starts to feel like a badge maybe millions can wear. Who are all these caretakers, advocates too . Turns out, its californians its me and its you. Dont stop now, its easy to add to the routine. Join Energy Upgrade california and do your thing. Welcome back to beyond the headlines. Weve been talking about reducing premature births and increasing the number of healthy babies. In a wellness report on abc7 news, every day in the womb boosts a babys brain development. Heres a message from jane king. Carrying a baby as close to full term as possible is better for the babys brain development. Researchers at the Childrens National Health System say in the final trimester of pregnancy, the fetal brain grows exponentially. The brain increases fourfold in size during that time. Carrying a pregnancy to full term is ideal, of course. But unfortunately, it just isnt possible for many people. Joining us now to talk about her research at Stanford University is dr. Virginia winn. She is associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, a maternalfetal medicine specialist, and director of perinatal biology research. [ chuckles ] lots of hats that youre wearing there. Yes. So, dr. Winn, the work is transdisciplinary, and we heard that word earlier. What is does that mean . Mmhmm. So the march of dimes has done a tremendous job in pioneering, funding, these Transdisciplinary Research centers. And stanford was the first one, which was established in 2011. Transdisciplinary means taking specialists and people with different perspectives and bringing them together to tackle a problem, a common problem. And so, the march of dimes has provided the ability to take the Brilliant Minds at stanford and the technologies that are being developed at stanford, and bringing that to the problem of understanding preterm birth. I think when we talked earlier before we started this segment you talk about how we just dont know that much, which is really fascinating. Right, right. You think we have all the answers, and we dont. No, no. Its amazing how little we know about labor, about preterm labor. Theres certain things we certainly do know but clearly we dont know enough to be able to fully prevent all preterm births. I want to talk about your research. It deals with the placenta. Now, that, of course, for people who dont know this, its the organ that nourishes the fetus, and along with that comes something called preeclampsia. Yeah. So, every pregnancy has a placenta, and the placenta does really sustain the pregnancy and provide for the growth and nourishment of the baby. Sometimes when that placenta develops abnormally, women can develop conditions, one of which is preeclampsia. And my interest in preeclampsia is because it accounts for 15 to 20 of all preterm births. So its one of the reasons we know that leads to preterm birth, because once a woman develops preeclampsia, really, the only cure is to deliver. And so if they develop preeclampsia in the preterm period, that will lead to a preterm birth. Can you explain what preeclampsia is, please . Yeah. So preeclampsia is where the woman develops an increase in the Blood Pressure and spills protein in her urine. It can also affect other end organs like the brain, the kidney, the liver, and her ability of her blood to clot. And so if these things start to develop, its really important to deliver, because the placenta is whats driving the disease, so you have to get rid of the placenta for the disease to go away. Now, we talked about some of the risk factors and things that women can do to from dr. Govindaswami. Are there some things youd like to add to that . So, in terms of preeclampsia, theres very little that we know prevents it. In some very highrisk women, a baby aspirin has been shown to decrease the risk to some extent but not nearly to the extent that, you know, you would hope as an obstetrician to be able to provide to your patients. Right so we really need to understand not only preeclampsia but what causes just preterm labor, so that we can develop strategies and better preventative and therapeutic measures. So, youre doing that at these centers. We have a graphic that we want to show folks where they are. And so what is your hope what is being worked on right now . So, whats being worked on now theres actually a lot of areas that are being worked on. Whats great about a Transdisciplinary Center is that projects that are looking at the microbiome or the bacteria that are on our bodies, projects that are looking at molecules in the bloodstream that may give a clue as to whats happening at the placenta and other parts of the body, work thats working on taking the Huge California databases and understanding risk factors that can be impacted there and putting those all together and seeing how they interplay, to truly get to, hopefully, being able to really make headways in decreasing preterm birth. And i hope that all of that works very quickly. Thank you so much. Yes. Appreciate your time here. Unfortunately, we have to take another break. We could talk all day about this. And were gonna talk a little bit more about some of the research. Were gonna learn about how some communities struggle with higher rates of preterm birth, so stay with us. Well be right back. Every day, youre thankful for the ones you love. And every day you promise to protect them. Off is here to help with proven protection against mosquitoes. Trust our family to protect yours. Sc johnson, a Family Company when you you act fast. Er, boo. So do we. Raid kills roaches seven times faster than the next leading ant and roach spray. Seven times faster . gasps raid get raid and get tough on roaches fast. Sc johnson. Welcome back to beyond the headlines. Weve been talking about the risks of preterm birth and what is being done to help mothers have healthy babies. A Prenatal Program at oaklands Highland Hospital is credited with reducing premature births by more than a third. Abc7 News Reporter Laura Anthony filed this story in august. Its a program thats proving the value of shared experience momstobe at oaklands Highland Hospital undergoing their prenatal care together. Its called centering, and its credited with reducing preterm deliveries by 33 to 47 . When babies are newly born, do they have a lot of head support . In centering, you bring it all out in the open. Everyone gets to share their experiences and their fears and their hopes, and they learn that theyre not alone, that everybodys having similar experiences or, if theyre having different experiences, they can determine whats normal, whats of concern. Besides the usual Blood Pressure and weight checks, centering includes Group Sessions in the late stages of pregnancy 8 to 12 women with similar due dates. They said that the milk is for the First Six Months is the best. Elicia alvarez is expecting her third child but is getting valuable, new information this time. I was a lot younger when i had my first son, so now its just different learning, like, the techniques to better breastfeed and better care for the baby. Of course, the ultimate goal of the centering Prenatal Program is this a healthy, fullterm baby and healthy, happy mom. Besides all the health risks, the cost of a premature delivery ranges from 22,000 to 55,000, an added expense the centering Program Seeks to avoid. In oakland, Laura Anthony, abc7 news. Right now, we have a satelliteremote interview with erica alexander. She is march of Dimes Maternal Child Health Program Impact leader, and shes talking to us from our sister station kfsn in fresno. Erica, thank you so much for being with us. Tell us about your Community Programs. So, we have a couple of Community Programs. One is looking at quality improvement. So we work with local hospitals on antenatal corticosteroid implementation for women who are gonna deliver preterm and helping that baby survive by doing the steroid injections to help survivability after that baby is born. We also work with hospitals in doing the preterm labor Assessment Tool kit, a way of assessing women and implementing interventions to help them when theyre coming into the hospital with preterm labor. The other part of our Community Programs is looking at reducing racial and ethnic disparities. So we have our healthy babies are worth the wait program, which is a multidimensional intervention that communities with high preterm birthrates can look at certain interventions that will help in their community, and it takes the whole, entire community to implement. Erica, you talked about some of the risk factors. Im talking racial groups, native and africanamerican populations with higher rates of preterm birth. Can you talk a little bit about that, please . We know that african the preterm birthrates in africanamerican communities are nearly 48 higher and an americanindian, alaskanative populations for women, its about 15 higher than whites. So we really have to do weve done a great job so far, but we really have to start implementing more interventions across the country and across california so every baby has a fair chance of surviving. Erica, im looking at some numbers that say that you want to get to 8. 1 by 2020 of the preterm birthrate, and 5. 5 by 2030. Thats a very ambitious goal. Yes, it is, but knowing these roadmap interventions and some of the community work, we can get down to 8. 1 by 2020, definitely. And can you talk a little bit about the road map, please. So these are eight emerging interventions that if you bundle them together or even separately, were looking at reducing preterm birthrates across all jurisdictions, across all population groups. One of them starts with reducing a nonmedically indicated delivery. So women who arent induced or given cesarean sections without a medical reason before 39 weeks. Also, the increasing use of 17p, or progesterone, which is ideal for women who have had a history of or a preterm delivery beforehand. The other thing is also reducing tobacco use among pregnant women, but also encouraging women to birth space. So we know that having pregnancies too close together increases her chances of having a preterm birth. Also expanding Group Prenatal care. So, one of the things that we do is community grants, and one of them is in Alameda County. We have two. The alameda Health System is actually implementing centering, which is supported by the march of dimes. And then Alameda County department of Public Health is actually doing a project to reduce preterm birth with Pacific Islanders in Alameda County. So, we talked about earlier expanding Group Prenatal care, and then, of course, increasing the use of lowdose aspirin for preeclampsia. We know that the only way to cure preeclampsia is by delivering the baby, so if we can get women started on lowdose aspirin, it might help reduce studies have shown itll help reduce preterm birth. And then advancing some of the interventions for women with a short cervix, which can include cerclages or 17p. And then reducing multiple births through assisted reproductive technology. So we know if youre carrying multiple babies, it increases your risk. This data right here, these interventions are some effective strategies to reduce preterm birthrates across all our geographic and racialethnic groups. Erica alexander, thank you so much for all of your work and all of your knowledge. And for people who want to know more about all the things that we learned about on this program today, you can go to the march of dimes website. You can also go to our website, abc7news. Com community. Were on facebook at abc7communityaffairs as well as cherylabc7, and you can follow me on twitter cherylabc7. Thanks so much for joining us. Have a great week. Well see you next time. Now, from abc7, beyond the headlines with cheryl jennings. Welcome to beyond the headlines. Every week we examine stories that affect people who live and work in the bay area. Today, we take a look at the issues important to our hispanic communities. The term hispanic or latino refers to people whose ancestors came from spain, mexico, the caribbean, south or central america. The 2010 u. S. Census found 55 million people, or 17 of the american population, are of hispanic or latino origin, a significant increase from ten years earlier, up from 35 million, or 13 of the total u. S. Population. Heres abc7s Jessica Castro with local leaders for a special roundtable edition of our show. Thank you, cheryl. Education and technology are a big focus of our discussion today. Before we begin, id like to highlight a story filed by abc7s eric thomas about a new venture that could fasttrack students toward college. They called him mr. October because of his postseason heroics at the plate. But on this friday in september, Reggie Jackson was talking about the importance of science and Technology Education to students of color. And as a minority, you do not get a fair opportunity. You do not get a fair shake. But sometimes you do get a little star power, money from Silicon Valley, and input from a local Community College to help give these kids a nudge along the way. The focus on technology because theres such a significant lack of any kind of minority population in technology. Its true that africanamericans and latinos make up less than 5 of employees at the major Tech Companies. This initiative hopes to help change that. Its a joint venture between Silicon Valley Software Giant sap, the Oakland Unified School district, and Berkeley City College. The goal . Get more kids of color involved in the tech industry. Thats not new, but this is. Students in the academy will be allowed to take courses that offer credits both at skyline and at Berkeley City College at no cost. And after they graduate, they have two years to complete their Associates Degree for free. Were hoping that they can get, lets say, at least a couple semesters worth of College Credits before they leave so theyll have a real edge. They also become our Employee Base later. So, its a Virtuous Cycle for all. I want to create something. I want people to know my name, what i did. I just want to make sure america leads us, continues to lead the world in computertechnology science. Everybody involved expects to get back more than they give, especially the tech industry, which believes that diversity creates greater profits and prosperity. In oakland, eric thomas, abc7 news. And joining us in studio today are dr. Hilaria bauer, sitting right next to me, superintendent of Alum Rock Union Elementary School district, located in East San Jose, hector mujica, socialresponsibility Program Manager over at google, and Deldelp Medina, director of the Residency Program at code2040. Thank you all for being here. Thank you. Hi. How are you, jessica . Good to see all of you. Deldelp, i want to begin with you on code2040. Talk to us a little bit about what your program does, especially bringing latinos into technology. Yeah, we work with black and latinx folks to bring them into the innovation economy. So, we have three programs. Our Flagship Program is a program that helps students that are getting their c. S. Degrees, so their computerscience degree, to help them find internships here in the bay area. Our Second Program is the tap program, which works also with these students to help them get skill sets and understandings and understand how to stay within the c. S. Programs. And then i am in charge of the entrepreneurship program. So, im really lucky to be able to work with founders of color that have Tech Companies across seven cities and eight next year. So, im really excited. And were gonna talk to you in just a little bit about the barriers to entry for latinos into technology, but, dr. Bauer, i want to ask you about your school district. 87 of the kids are of latino heritage, right . Also, many of them are below the poverty level, so their challenges are a little bit different than most districts, especially in terms of accessing the new economy. For our families, its quite a different world. And so, the work that we do in our district will hopefully lead our students to become just like you guys around the table successful latinos that have access to the new economy. And on that note, hector, i want to talk to you about your work at google, what you do there. And you represent a latino thats very successful in technology. Yeah, thank you. So, im a socialresponsibility Program Manager at google. Help build out a lot and encourage a lot of our Employee Engagement and giving and in socialresponsibility programs. And im also one of the advisers to our hispanic employeeresource group, hola. So, within that realm, i work very closely with all of our hispanic groups within google. And speaking of advice to latinos and anyone trying to get into technology, deldelp, can you talk a little bit about barriers to entry, what youre seeing, especially with code2040, what latinos are facing, trying to get into tech . Well, i think that we have to delineate a couple things. First of all, we overconsume in terms of buying and being on all sorts of apps, programs, that sort of thing. So, this idea that somehow latinos are not technologyminded i think is a moot point. Theres a flip side to that. Unfortunately, a lot of us are mobile native. So, in other words, our only kind of connection my mom calls it. [ speaking spanish ]. The little device is mobile. So, its very hard to learn how to code. Its very hard to be able to do your schoolwork if your only device is either an ipad or a phone. And so, that is a barrier to entry on the one hand. On the other hand, because folks are mobile native, because they understand how to use these things, it allows us to have a fluidity when it comes to technology in a very different way. And so, it is trying to fill that gap that were constantly working with. So, a lot of the folks that i get to work with, which are tech entrepreneurs of color, they are creating things that very few other people are looking at. Theyre looking at the marketplace in a very different way. And also knowing fully well that one Tech Employee earns as much as a black and latinx family combined. So, that when you are looking at that disparity in terms of poverty, the reality is, is that one of the ways in which we can narrow the income gap is making sure that we are a part and were at the table in terms of making products for ourselves for the rest of the u. S. Thats exactly what were trying to do in alum rock, in making technology a part of the curriculum. So, its not like an Afterschool Program or a saturday academy. But for our families, to your point of having access to kind of limited machines, if you will. You know, students need to be able to know and interact with them in a different way, in a more consistent way so that for example, in alum rock, we have something called code to the future, where technology is taught during the day, just like reading and math. Its not an Afterschool Program. Its not an afterthought. And the reason we needed to invest in that is just because of what you said. They need to make it part of their everyday life. And, dr. Bauer, were gonna talk a little bit more about how technology is being used in schools currently, but we do need to take a quick break. Well be right back. Managing blood sugar is not a marathon. Its a series of smart choices. And when you replace one meal or snack a day with glucerna made with carbsteady to help minimize blood sugar spikes you can really feel it. Glucerna. Everyday progress. Welcome back to our special roundtable edition of beyond the headlines. Im Jessica Castro, guesthosting for cheryl jennings. Weve been talking with local leaders in our Hispanic Community about education, technology, innovation. Silicon valley may be home to many highTech Companies, but often, students in East San Jose are left behind. A program paid for by one district is giving the kids new tools to break through barriers, and abc7 News Reporter matt keller filed this story from meadows Elementary School. Does it seem like everyone you know has an ipad . It may seem true, but in East San Jose, accessibility to technology heck, even getting on the internet is a luxury many kids dont have. But that changed today for hundreds of elementaryschool students in East San Joses franklinmckinley school district. A big announcement at meadows elementary this morning, letting third through sixth graders know they now have 180 ipads available in their classrooms. The technology will help give personalized learning to students in a school that has 40 english learners. Take a sixthgrade class, for example. We have some thirdgrade readers. We have some twelfthgrade readers. And for a teacher of 32 kids to be able to differentiate both levels with traditional just books is very challenging. Meadows is a stem school. They teach coding and even robotics. But the ipads will also be used for traditional subjects, as well. I like to use it for history. It will also give students access to a secret us adults have been keeping from them for years. Do you think adults are pretty smart . Yeah. You know, its just because we have access to google. Were not as smart as you may think. Now you have access to google. You gonna be as smart as an adult now . Yeah. Thats pretty good. Kennedy and shirakawa elementary will also be getting 160 ipads today, with the goal of having all 16 schools in the district having ipads in the classroom by 2018. In san jose, matt keller, abc7 news. And those kids so excited to get an ipad. Dr. Bauer, real quick can you tell us the situation in your school district, what kind of technology you have . Sure. One of the things that i know is that children learn no matter what. But what has changed is the way we teach. And so, its about providing the access to different tools and different ways of technology. Ipads are fantastic, and i think they use it, and they know how to do it better than the adults. But also having them learn how to use the equipment, as i said before, in a different modality. For example, for Critical Thinking and problem solving, how to access information those are kinds of things that we need to directteach our students, because usually the tools are used as entertainment, right . And so we have to change that paradigm for them. And teaching, of course, so much of that in schools. And, hector, can you talk to us about code next and the work that google is doing to bring all that technology into schools . Definitely. So, code next is actually an outsideoftheclassroom program that weve recently announced. Its a program happening in oakland and harlem, and the goal of the program is to Bring Technology and to bring training to where the students are at. So, we r proximate to the students and meet them where theyre at in the communities. And the Program Pilot right now was with eighth graders. The goal of the program is to follow the same class of students throughout their highschool careers, give them a good ramp as they get ready to progress into college and hopefully empowering them and enabling them to pursue a career in computer science. And what does that mean, just being technology literate, or kind of the work that deldelp does, where youre learning to code, youre really creating that technology . Where does that marry together . Yeah, the program is very comprehensive. So, theyre gonna be getting from us basic learnings. But where theyre at right now in the eighth grade and middle school, theyre gonna be getting introductions to coding. And as they progress in their highschool careers, with this program, theyre gonna be Digging Deeper into learning how to code and to learning different aspects and different coding languages and really diving deeper into what it means to be in computer science. And, deldelp, how does that work with what youre trying to accomplish and actually getting latinos and people of color in the tech sector . Yeah, no, just the differentiation. We actually dont teach people how to code, but what were really dedicating ourselves to is to create onramps for people to have access to jobs within the innovation economy. And so, its important for us that folks like all of you are doing that work because for us its really about finding what are those barriers to entry. And the reality is, the reason were called code 2040 is by 2040 this will be a minoritymajority country, right . So, this idea that we dont have a seat at the table is actually pretty economically dangerous from our point of view. Already in california, we are the average californians. My kid is the average schoolchild. Those children we saw are the average schoolchildren. And so, if were not training the next group of folks, and if were not actually cultivating the folks that are already here, who are latino and black, that is problematic for us because the next 20, 30 years, were not just competing against global superpowers, were competing against smaller countries that are already onramping people in a very, very quick way and that there is no disposable people in this country anymore. This idea that somehow a Certain Group of people shouldnt have a seat at the table i think can get really problematic, as were doing this demographic shift. And, hector, are you seeing that, that we are competing globally on that global stage at google . And then also talk to us about your experience because you have a unique one. We talk a lot about latinos not having technology in their home, but i know you grew up with a family who were in the tech sector, continue to be. I had a very similar experience. My dad is a biomedical engineer. So, i was exposed to that. Yeah, so, my dad is a computer scientist. He actually got his education in venezuela before moving to the United States. He now works for oracle. And i grew up in a house that was very much connected to the internet. I had devices. I had computers, i remember, dsl and dialup and everything in between. And for me getting that level of exposure and also that role model into someone that was in technology was really, really beneficial and i think what put me in a trajectory to go into where im at today. And i think thats something that a lot of latinos lack is a role model. If you cant see it, you cant be it. And what we see a lot in the Hispanic Community is that a lot of latinos dont have a role model in technology that they can look up to and hopefully pursue a career in tech. So, for me i was very fortunate to have that in my life, and hopefully through programs and initiatives like code next and other initiatives like our peer nonprofits and educators are doing, we can also inspire the next generation of latino technologists. Are you seeing that in your schools, dr. Bauer . Absolutely. And shifting a little bit of a the conversation to deldelps point, there are no people to spare, right . And so, i totally honor when you have somebody in your life that is able to do that. The majority of our latino students, especially in the east side, dont have that. So, we need to reach out to the families and have them be part of the school so that they understand kind of how to connect to this, right . We have to create a bridge so that they are models where theres none right now, right . And so, not to think, okay, well, this is over, or youre always gonna be kind of in the Service Sector or things like that. We need to open doors and windows and everything we can open and create bridges for our families so that they can see themselves as the tech entrepreneurs or developers. They need to be part of the new economy. I want to talk about that, how we incentivize latinos to be a part of that conversation, not just here sitting at this table, but in our community. And so, were gonna talk about that right after the break. We will be back in just a minute. Welcome back to our special hispanic roundtable episode of beyond the headlines. Im Jessica Castro. Weve been talking with dr. Hilaria bauer, hector mujica, and Deldelp Medina for our special show. And i want to get back to this idea of incentivizing our Latino Community members to give back. And, deldelp, ill start with you. Yeah, no, i feel very lucky to be able to work with folks across the United States that are giving back to their communities and understand what is at stake. What is at stake is an economic imperative that we currently have to be able to make sure that were filling in that gap. And innovation is the way to do it. If youve become a millionaire or a billionaire in the 21st century, its because of technology. The only other way you could have done that is actual petroleum. And so, this is a way in which your intelligence, your hard work, your dedication allows you to do that. But on the flip side, we do need to create inclusive environments. The reality is, is that too often when i go to a tech conference and ive been going to them for 15, 20 years i would be the only in a room. Id be the only woman. Id be the only person of color. Id be the only bilingual person. And so now, when i go to Tech Companies, and now when i go to tech conventions, its a very different place and space, but there is a lot of work still to be done. Yeah, you mentioned just how much someone can gain from the tech sector economically. So, hector, can you talk to us, because i know you do a lot of work in the community and give back, not only with your time but monetarily, as well. So, talk to us about that space. Yeah, so, ive been very fortunate to be part of Latino Community Foundation Giving circles group, and thats a group that the Latino Community foundation founded about a year ago. And the hope there is to take hispanics from being just recipients of philanthropic dollars but also make them into givers of philanthropic dollars. Hispanics currently only benefit from less than 2 of philanthropic dollars, even though we make up over 20 of the population of the United States. And lcf is really looking to change that paradigm and doing so by enabling us regular hispanics to pull together our resources, pull together our money, learn more about the issues that are affecting our local communities, and empowering us to give back to those local communities through these giving circles. And, dr. Bauer, you have examples like hector and deldelp latinos in the tech sector or dealing with tech in some capacity. Is that enough, though, or do we need mentors . How do you see it from your perspective in the schools . We need everybody involved. And i was gonna use the term come back to the community, right . Because a lot of times, we just kind of go out and kind of mingle and blend with middle class, which is fantastic. Im not saying that. But a lot of times we forget where we came from, right . And theres this hesitation. So, a lot of our communities have been ravaged by all kinds of things because of poverty. Thats it. And so, we need to refrain the conversation and to say, it is okay to go back and mentor. It is okay to go back and give, right . And it is learning for us as a group to say, we need to be part of the solution, right . We need to be active, and we need to visit my schools, right . I have 24 schools where the majority of the students are latino, and they need those role models. They need to see you, jessica, coming in and saying, hi, guys. You can become me, because youre absolutely right. Until you see it, its not gonna happen. And i can see my students right now, most of our role models and i am very grateful a lot of our teachers have been products of our schools, and they can relate to the students, and they can be part of their community. But they need diversity. Professional diversity is what we need so that they can see themselves in that. And real quick, i want you to give one piece of advice for the parents watching this. So, just one sentence from each of you on whats the numberone thing they can do if theyre watching this at home right now. In my case, they need to become involved in their school directly. They need to come. They need to see whats going on. They need to ask questions. Be part of it. Okay. Hector . And also by being part of it, i would encourage them to change the policies that affect us all, right . And elections are coming up, and theyre very, very important. So, i would encourage them to check out a resource that Latino Community foundation has launched called latinosvote. Com, which is a resource to get latinos registered to vote this next election. Okay. And deldelp . I would say not put barriers in front of your children. Just because you dont know how to do something doesnt mean that your kid cant figure out how to do it. I think too often we want to keep our kids safe, and out of that safety we end up creating barriers there. Theres already enough barriers to entries. They also need to be able to be curious and to be engaged and to find out a way of going about it. So, i think as a parent in particular, i find that if you tell a kid no, that inevitably creates a situation where they think, oh, this isnt possible. Where you should say, well, lets figure it out. Lets find out a way to make this happen. But, really, skys the limit, right, no matter what language you speak and no matter where you come from. Thats right. Id like to thank our fantastic studio guests, of course. Dr. Hilaria bauer, hector mujica, Deldelp Medina. They have their programs. Theyre trailblazing in our community, and we are excited to follow their work. So, please check out all of their different organizations. Cheryl, back to you. Thank you, jessica. For more information about todays program, just go to our website, abc7news. Com community. Were also on facebook abccommunityaffairs, as well as cheryljenningsabc7. And follow me on twitter cherylabc7. Im cheryl jennings. Have a great week. Well see you next time. Who are these people . The Energy Conscious people among us say small actions can add up to something. Humongous. A little thing here. A little thing there. Starts to feel like a badge maybe millions can wear. Who are all these caretakers, advocates too . Turns out, its californians its me and its you. Dont stop now, its easy to add to the routine. Join Energy Upgrade california and do your thing. Last man standing is recorded in front of a live studio audience. Happy valentines day, sweetie. Morning. Yeah, yeah. Listen, i made you a waffle sandwich with bacon and sausage for the road. Wow. I have died and gone to heaven. [ chuckles ] at least i will if i keep eating like this. Almost as sweet as what i got you. Oh, mike, seriously . Very good, dad. Nice to see you stepping up. Oh, thats not for valentines day