CHLA serves the undergraduate Hispanic and Latinx students of Caltech. We provide professional and cultural support to these students. Through our partnership with Club Latino, the graduate student-serving organization at Caltech, we also provide access to outreach events. We support students in nearby K-12 schools through STEM demonstrations, serving on panels, and other events.
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Every year, we attend the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) National Convention. Through this amazing opportunity, students network, grow professionally, and even receive multiple internship offers to further their careers. We have hosted workshops and resume reviews with Google, Facebook, Illumina, and Bloomberg so students could learn more about job opportunities.
In coming years, we will send student leaders to the National Institute of Leadership Advancement (NILA) conference to improve their leadership skills. Students will attend SHPE's Regional Leadership Development Conference to network and learn about other chapters' success. Our goal is to provide as many opportunities as possible to latinx students to develop as emerging scientists, engineers, and leaders.
CHLA participates in volunteer events in the Pasadena in Los Angeles area. We hold "STEMinstrations" to showcase cool STEM concepts to younger students. We participate in panels for underrepresented students to show them what an engineer or scientist looks like.
Every year, we throw an event known as Semana Latina, where we host speakers, share Hispanic food, and host social events for all of Caltech. Semana Latina allows CHLA to share Latinx and Hispanic culture with the entirity of Caltech campus. The great speakers tell us about their career paths and provide yet another great networking opportunity.
In the past, we've hosted Diana Trujillo, Dr. Samuel Garcia, Jorge Vazquez, and Dr. Maria Elena Zavala as speakers.
In 2025, we hosted our Annual Dia de Ciencias! Our amazing Dia de Ciencias Coordinator Paulina Chavira, organized with nearby middle schools to host the event on the Caltech campus.
Dia de Ciencias is a day-long event with interactive STEM activities, demonstrations from student speakers/faculty, and a chance to get exposure to STEM in a fun way. Dia de Ciencias hopes to engage and inspire Hispanic youth to pursue STEM degrees and careers. We partner with Caltech's Center for Teaching, Learning and Outreach to recruit latinx students to attend this yearly outreach event.
