Technology and Innovation: Transforming and Empowering Women in Latin America

Jimena Barreras, Project Manager for Digital Transformation

Technology plays an important role in closing digital gaps. It also increases women’s autonomy, strengthens their innate leadership, and above all, helps guarantee access to fundamental resources—such as health care and education—that can improve quality of life for women and their families.

To create technologies with social impact, it is essential to increase the labor participation of women in the technology and innovation sectors, as creators, strategists, and leaders who contribute to the transformation of more inclusive and sustainable societies. 

In addition to supporting policies and initiatives that help more women and girls participate in the STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] sector, we must also recognize the potential of women and their fundamental role in digital transformation and innovation from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Today, there are many more opportunities to shape the digital world from different areas of knowledge. For example, an anthropologist or psychologist can make valuable contributions to design thinking and customer experience processes. As a business, management, and strategy administrator, I am currently designing new technologies to expand access to financial and health services with a gender lens in Latin America.

In my work as Project Manager for Digital Transformation at Pro Mujer, we have been creating technological solutions to expand access to financial, health, and education services for women in the region. For example, in Bolivia and Argentina, we offer our clients the opportunity to apply for individual microcredits through a mobile app that facilitates an agile, practical, and 100% digital experience. Similarly, in Nicaragua, in collaboration with our allies Punto Fácil and BanPro, we have been innovating our communal banking models so our clients can receive entrepreneurship training via WhatsApp and generate payments through a mobile wallet. 

At the same time, through Ami Cuidado, Pro Mujer´s health platform, we are developing new digital solutions focused on chronic disease and breast cancer prevention, mental health and well-being, and telemedicine services, among others. We also continue to develop virtual training opportunities related to financial health, business skills, digital skills, women’s rights, and gender violence. Motivated by the positive response of our clients and patients, we are expanding our digital portfolio—in the financial, health, and education areas—in Bolivia, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Argentina, and we hope to expand our impact to more countries in Latin America.

Empowering women through technology and innovation creates possibilities to transform our societies toward more inclusive and sustainable models. We welcome and encourage everyone to be leaders in this digital age!