A community-driven research project examining the intersecting realities of health and economic wellbeing for the 327,000+ Latinas who power Silicon Valley — and what it will take to change them.
This is a preliminary showcase. The complete report will not be released until 2027 — what you see here is an early draft of the quantitative findings.
In 2025, Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley and Latinas Contra Cancer advanced the groundwork for the Health & Wealth of Silicon Valley Latinas report — our first-ever research report — scheduled for release at the beginning of 2027.
This year's work focused on engaging our Community Advisory Board — regional Latina leaders whose lived experience is shaping the research, grounding the data in community truth, and ensuring the findings are relevant and actionable — while also launching the project's digital storytelling training to elevate community narratives alongside the data.
Looking ahead, we are eager to engage our broader community as the report is released and to build strategic partnerships that support dissemination, learning, and action. We see this report as a tool for understanding the growing and powerful Latina community and for leveraging those insights to inform decisions, influence policy, and drive long-term systems change that benefits all communities across Silicon Valley.
This is a preliminary showcase of our research in progress. The complete report will be released in 2027 — the download will be available then.
This is an initial draft of the quantitative findings and is not yet complete. Framing text coming soon.
The Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley and Latinas Contra Cancer analyzed regional demographic and public health data across Santa Clara and San Mateo counties to surface the systemic issues shaping the social determinants of health and wealth for Latinas.
Nearly half of Latinas carry the operational load of the region in peripheral roles — far above the Silicon Valley averages of 14% (service) and 8% (office support). Meanwhile, the tech lock-out keeps Latinas at just 3% of computer, engineering, and science positions.
Latinas out-participate White women (56%), API women (63%), and Black women (63%) in the workforce — yet face the region's highest unemployment rate of any group, including men and women of all races and ethnicities. Unmatched drive, unmatched structural drag.
Across all education levels, Latinas earn a median of $21/hour against the region's $38. Higher education improves earnings but widens the structural disparity: a Latina with a bachelor's degree earns $38/hour on average — $24 behind the $62 regional average for college-educated workers.
Despite leading the region in female workforce participation, Latinas are systematically excluded from corporate health infrastructure. Public safety nets absorb the employer gaps — though Silicon Valley Latinas still rely on them less than Latinas statewide (36%) or nationally (29%).
To stay close to the economic engine they power, Latinas absorb the housing crisis physically and financially. Of renters facing cost burden, 28% are severe and 29% moderate — funneling income to housing rather than education, savings, or generational wealth. Nationally 18% of Latinas live overcrowded; the 28% local rate is a Silicon Valley penalty.
Note: Silicon Valley is defined throughout as Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
Sources: Author's analyses of the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS), 2024.
In summer 2025, the project leadership team gathered for a three-day digital storytelling workshop at San José State University. The workshop was led by Andrea Spagat, our digital storytelling guide and co-director of StoryCenter — one of the first media organizations to codify the core elements of digital storytelling.
Through a collaborative story circle, we shared our experiences, developed and recorded scripts, gathered images, and used video-editing software to bring our stories to life. We concluded the workshop by viewing the completed digital stories and celebrating our shared experience.
We look forward to sharing additional digital stories currently being developed with members of our Community Advisory Board, key stakeholder interviewees, and focus group participants.
The qualitative findings — drawn from the lived experiences and voices of Latinas across Silicon Valley — are being finalized and will be shared here as the research develops.
This report was produced in collaboration by the following organizations.
