María del Mar Vélez

Young people in Latin America are highly exposed to informal employment and lack of job opportunities. Training in digital skills can be a strategy to address this problem, especially among the most vulnerable young people, according to the International Labor Organization, by facilitating their insertion in economic sectors that use new technologies.

In this regard, Colombian María del Mar Vélez, an economist at New York University, believes that there is "a large and growing gap between the demand and supply of digital talent" and that schools "are training a student profile that is not what is needed today."

To put an end to this flaw in the education system, Vélez created the online technology education academy Crack The Code. It is a platform that develops the digital skills of Latin American children and adolescents who learn "without knowing they are learning," as defined by Vélez. For this breakthrough in effective online technology education, Vélez has been selected as one of the winners of MIT Technology Review's Innovators Under 35 Latin America 2023 in Spanish.

This project addresses the low employability of teenagers after finishing their formal education. With the help of Crack the Code, technology can empower students' futures and improve their lives, their families' lives and change the future of the region, according to its creator. Through fun and interactive classes, logical thinking and autonomy are promoted in more than 20 countries in the region. In addition, families and partner companies and schools can follow the children's progress.

Colombian Vélez launched this online academy because "digital education is not prioritized despite being a fundamental part of our lives. With technology, they are given a path to employability that impacts their income and their family and improves the community." More than half of the 13,500 Crack The Code students come from low-income families. Thanks to this technological training, Velez hopes to give more opportunities to the underprivileged children and adolescents she trains.

In the near future, this entrepreneur hopes to grow in Latin America and multiply by three the number of students Crack The Code trains. In partnership with NGOs, foundations and companies, Vélez hopes to continue to make a positive impact by increasing the quality of life of Latin American youth.