- The idea of being more proactive instead of reactive, and realizing the opportunities that are on the table with all the new technology- - [Narrator] Here, at the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation, on the city's southwest side, several local organizations came together to celebrate and promote Latino businesses.

Anita Zavala, the Entrepreneurship and Wealth Building Director at DHDC, says The Latin-X-Tech event is all about highlighting Latinos and Latinas working in the technology field.

- This event specifically is designed to show our community that we can do more than just, not that there's anything wrong with owning a restaurant, or selling jewelry, or candles, but we do have a place in tech.

And there are already members in our community who are succeeding in the tech space.

- [Narrator] The DHDC, Tech Town Detroit, the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, Detroit Means Business, the Southwest Detroit Business Association, and more joined forces to make this event possible.

It included live music, food vendors, panel discussions, and guided business development sessions.

There was even a local school robotics presentation.

But why focus on the tech industry?

Zavala says, it's simple, tech is where the money is.

- I want as many members of my community as possible to get into businesses that have the potential for millions of dollars, and not just hundreds of thousands.

- [Narrator] But getting Detroit's Hispanic community into this field has some barriers.

One that DHDC and other organizations are fighting, Zavala says, is a lack of technology education.

She says many of Detroit schools don't have coding or other tech programs.

- Our schools don't have the funding for those type of programs.

So, a lot of our community didn't grow up with it outside of, like, their phone or their tablet.

That's about it, right?

And then, our older members of our community, they didn't even have that.

- [Narrator] For Zavala, this event is about celebrating ways Detroit's Latino residents have already begun overcoming that barrier.

The Robotics Engineering Center of Detroit, or RECD, is a youth robotics program held at the DHDC.

- We host ten high school robotics teams for first robotics here.

And those high school teams from our community they share all of the machining equipment that they would need to build those robots.

- [Narrator] Zavala watched RECD's demo during Latin-X-Tech.

She was reminded of how great robotics was for her son.

- It really helped him gain confidence.

Technical skills that he uses still to this day.

- [Narrator] Another huge barrier for many in southwest Detroit is language.

Many in the city's Hispanic community are not native English speakers.

- Detroit is a culturally rich city, right?

While the majority population is black American, we have linguistically so many different cultures and languages that are representative.

- [Narrator] This is Jesse Feliz, the founder and lead educator of Spanish Swag, a Spanish language learning program for kids.

Feliz understands how important it is for Latin Detroiters to understand English speakers and vice versa.

- In order to function in this diverse, ever changing world, we're competing on a global scale.

So, we do, it's not about code switching, but it is about navigating this world in a bilingual, multilingual way.

- [Narrator] Another barrier is the current lack of Latino representation in these jobs.

We sat down with Eddie Gonzalez, founder of Eye Breathe Design, a local graphic and website design company.

Gonzalez was the keynote speaker for Latin-X-Tech.

- Representation is always a big deal, regardless of the sector or the background, you know, just having someone there that can, you know, speak to the cultural differences and just the opportunities that are on the table for people, I think is a huge deal.

- [Narrator] Beyond understanding technology for all the good it can do in the city, Gonzalez thinks there is a lesser discussed reason that Latino representation matters.

- The fact is, that a lot of this technology is being used to surveil us and to criminalize us in different ways.

And so, I think it's super important that we're at the table to understand like how these technologies are interacting with us on the day to day.

- See, you got the potatoes.

You got the beef, you got the plantains, and you got the mayo-ketchup.

- Oh, yes, thank you, man.

Thank you.

- You're welcome.

- [Narrator] Beyond big scale surveillance equipment or high-end coding needs, most businesses rely on technology to some degree.

Even food popups, such as Puerto Rican restaurant, Mikey's Cocina.

I sat down with owner Miguel Mendez Roman during Latin-X-Tech.

He said he and his team move their business through social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram.

- Because you wanna be able to not only reach the local, you wanna go beyond the local, that way everybody know where you at.

You know, what type of food you have, what you serving the community.

- [Narrator] Aside from running Mikey's Cocina, the longtime chef is also the building manager at DHDC.

He credits the organization with helping him and others take their ideas and turn them into thriving businesses.

- I enjoy the business classes with Anita Zavala.

She was the one helping me out to get my LLC, to get my full handler license, so that way we move everything forward.

- [Narrator] Mendez Roman says his dream of being a business owner became possible thanks to DHDC and the organizations they're partnered with.

- They give me the opportunity, and three years later, we still here.

And we still moving.

- [Narrator] For Mendez Roman, events like Latin-X-Tech are all about coming together to build wealth as a community.

- Give to the community.

Get the community together.

Know your community.

Know who's your people.

You know, help to move Detroit forward.

It's time to move up.

- [Narrator] Technology is only becoming more and more interwoven with our daily lives.

So, Feliz believes business owners should embrace what it can offer.

- Tech is here and is here to stay.

And, as a business owner, if you want to, not only like thrive locally, but if you want to scale your business, there's gonna have to be a tech component to it.

- [Narrator] She says it's important for people beyond just business owners.

- Everyone may not open their own business.

Some people are amazing employees.

Everyone may not be the actual creator or founder of an organization.

However, all of us can benefit from strengthening our skills.

And not just consuming technologia, but actually learning it, exploring it, failing with it a little bit, and then progressing with it too.

(crowd applauding)