Tag Archives: Hispanic Heritage Month

How Machine Learning GDE Henry Ruiz is inspired by resilience in his community

Posted by Kevin Hernandez, Developer Relations Community Manager

For Hispanic Heritage Month, we are celebrating Henry Ruiz, Machine Learning GDE, and Latin American and Hispanic developer voices.

Henry Ruiz, Machine Learning GDE, originally had aspirations of becoming a soccer player in his home country of Colombia, but when his brother got injured he knew that he had to have a backup plan. With a love for video games, Henry decided to pursue an education in development and eventually discovered the world of computer science.

Today, Henry is a Computer Scientist, working as a Research Specialist (Data Scientist) at Texas A&M AgriLife Research and finishing his Ph.D. in Engineering at Texas A&M University.

Image of Henry Ruiz in the field at Texas A&M University AgriLife Research Department

Henry, who barely spoke English before immigrating to the United States, has now progressed to the point of preparing to defend his PhD, thanks to the assistance of the Hispanic community.

As a first-generation college student in the United States, Henry was looking for a community where he could feel connected. He received a lot of support from international students and mentions that he always received a warm welcome specifically from the Hispanic community. Joining different clubs on campus, Henry connected with others through food and shared experiences and they served as a support system for one another by creating study groups. Through these connections, he began to notice the impact of developers from Latin America which deeply inspired him. Henry reflects, “We are considered a minority and don’t always have the same opportunities that developed countries have. So we have to be creative and put in an extra effort. So to see these stories of minority developers making an impact on the world is very significant to me.” Henry views Hispanic Heritage Month as a celebration of what Hispanic people have accomplished and it drives him in his work.

"Hispanic Heritage Month is a celebration of the hard work, the resilience, and the work that people in the community have done,” 

- Henry Ruiz, Machine Learning GDE
Image of Henry Ruiz conducting research at Texas A&M University AgriLife Research Department

Henry has seen progress being made in recognizing Hispanic contributions in the tech industry. “Big companies have been aware of the challenges that we have as minorities and they started creating different programs to get community members more involved in tech companies,” he explains. Well-known corporations have hosted conferences for the Hispanic community and Google in particular, gives out scholarships such as the Generation Google Scholarship. This makes him feel seen and gives the community visibility in the industry. When he sees Hispanics in leadership positions, it shows him what can be accomplished, which fuels his work.

Today, Henry has worked on generative AI projects and leverages Google technologies (Cloud, TensorFlow, Kubernetes) to tackle challenges in the agricultural industry. Specifically, he’s working on a project to detect diseases and pests in bananas. With the strong foundation of his community, Henry is actively helping communities with his research. On his advice to the Hispanic community, Henry imparts the following words of wisdom, “Although some might not have access to the same tools and technologies as others, we have to remember that we are resilient, creative, and are problem solvers. Just continue moving forward.”

You can find Henry on LinkedIn, GitHub, and via his GDE Developer Profile.


The Google Developer Experts (GDE) program is a global network of highly experienced technology experts, influencers, and thought leaders who actively support developers, companies, and tech communities by speaking at events and publishing content.

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

This past Friday marked the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month, which started nearly 50 years ago to celebrate the rich history of Hispanics in the U.S. and the tremendous impact they’ve had on American culture and society. This year, we want to celebrate everyone who identifies as part of the Hispanic and/or Latinx community by shining a light on the amazing content that they produce on YouTube. YouTube is overflowing with stories that are rich in Latinx and Hispanic culture and perspective – and it includes voices that span a vibrant spectrum of backgrounds and experiences.

Through humor, beauty, food, music and much more, Hispanic and Latinx creators make an impact every day. They set trends, define American culture, and connect with millions of fans all at the same time. For example, just last month, Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” became the most-watched video of all time on YouTube. But while Latin music is one of the fastest growing communities on the platform, music is only one small part of a rich catalog of stories Hispanic and Latinx creators are making and sharing. We’d like to take a moment to highlight a few of those creators here:

Lele Pons, a breakout star of 2017, showcases her pride for her heritage through humorous videos depicting what being Latinx means to her. Using humor to connect with people of all backgrounds, Lele has grown her audience to over 5 million subscribers with viral comedy videos and collabs that range from high school scenes to telenovela parodies and the hilarious Training to be a Latina. Similarly, Eric Ochoa (SUPEReeeGO), frequently parodies his experiences of growing up Mexican and was recently featured in the YouTube Red show, “Single by 30.” Like Lele, he’s taught us that exploring your background and viewpoint is a great way to build a global community of allies (and subscribers). The popularity of their content on YouTube indicates the community’s desire to see a world online that more authentically represents the world in which we live.

Many Hispanic and Latinx creators are also driving major trends on the platform. Slime videos, for example, were one of the biggest trends on YouTube this year, and DIY guru Karina Garcia was one of the key influencers driving the popularity of this category, with wildly popular videos like this one. Overall, her slime videos have amassed a whopping 225 million views. Beyond slime, she continues to connect with her community with life hack videos covering a huge range of subjects.

Beauty remains one of the top content categories on the platform and tastemaker Manny Mua has not only disrupted the beauty world, but he has also redefined the concept of “beauty guru.” Renowned for his gorgeous makeup tutorials, Manny was recently named Maybelline’s first ever male brand ambassador.

These creators represent just a few examples from a diverse community of Hispanic and Latinx voices on YouTube whose experiences, perspectives, stories and voices all drive a broader connected community. You can find videos from them and other Hispanic and Latinx influencers by visiting youtube.com/spotlight all month, with new playlists debuting every Monday through October 9. We also want to highlight fresh new content to include in this playlist, so tag your uploads #HHM or #HispanicHeritageMonth and you may see your video featured.

Danielle Tiedt, Chief Marketing Officer at YouTube, recently watched Let's Talk: Being Hispanic & Latinx Books.

Source: YouTube Blog