Community Spotlight: Abraham Morales

Celebrating 2024-2025 Fellow Abraham Morales! Abraham describes himself as a Salvadoran American, first-generation, low-income, third-year student currently majoring in Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech. Abraham is a determined, highly persistent technologist, driven by the possibility for innovation and focused on achieving his goals, “I’m pursuing Computer Engineering for myself and my family. I take my parents’ struggles, and how they came here for us, for a better life, and keep that momentum going.” Abraham enjoys building community with other Latinx and Black Computer Scientists, and is currently a member of the Society of Hispanic and Professional Engineers (SHPE). He was also active with the The Center for Engineering Education and Diversity (C.E.E.D.) before its recent rebranding.

Abraham became fascinated by the possibilities of technology as a young teenager. He laughs as he remembers “jailbreaking” his iPod and later attending coding sessions at an Apple retail store. He remembers, “I got involved in robotics in high school and learned to code. Combining robotics with coding meant that whatever I designed, I could actually build.”

As a creative and imaginative technologist, Abraham takes joy in bringing together software and hardware design. He is thrilled by the way he sees, “innovations constantly underway in the industry and behind the scenes. Engineers are designing new technologies and new products years in advance of when they hit the market. Constant innovation is really exciting.”

Abraham understands work for racial equity in tech as addressing wealth inequality. As he explains, “Racial equity work addresses the structural barriers that lead to differences in academic and career outcomes for minorities and economically disadvantaged people. Schools in Black and Latinx communities often receive less funding and that leads to long term outcomes, including inequities in college attendance and job opportunities.” As Abraham recalls, “While at a Google Latinx Conference, I remember someone saying, ‘Nothing for us, without us.’ You can’t create products without us being in the decision making rooms, without us being at the table to provide our insights into how the technologies being developed will impact us both positively and negatively. Beyond making profit, tech companies have a social responsibility to advance racial equity.”

Abraham offers encouragement to prospective Fellows, “It’s always good to try and to apply. Code2040 will broaden your horizons, including opening up potential networking opportunities and your understanding of what it looks like to be Latinx and Black in tech. My advice is to do it! Being a Code2040 Fellow will benefit you and encourage you to grow.”

Thanks for being part of our community, Abraham!