CEW+Leaders Potential Made Possible – Yaire Lopez-Quiroz

Yaire’s perseverance proves that underrepresented students can thrive in tech and redefine what leadership looks like along the way.

Yaire Lopez-Quiroz is a first-generation Latina computer science major at the University of Michigan. She is determined to break barriers in tech and inspire others to do the same. One of only two students from her high school to attend U-M, Yaire arrived on campus seeking community and quickly found it in Girls in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (GEECS), a student organization dedicated to building inclusive spaces for women and underrepresented students in STEM. Yaire joined GEECS in her first year and subsequently took on leadership roles, first as a membership officer and now as president.

Through her years on the GEECS executive board, Yaire has helped expand membership, organize events, and secure sponsors to connect members with career opportunities. She’s passionate about making sure that women don’t feel alone in male-dominated STEM fields. Yaire herself has navigated impostor syndrome, academic challenges, and the isolation of being one of the few Latina students in computer science at U-M. Yaire is determined to lift up others who experience similar challenges.

Yaire’s career goals include working in cybersecurity to safeguard data and networks. She has interned as a cybersecurity engineer at Deloitte, where she worked with a team to conduct cybersecurity simulations to test and strengthen the firm’s security systems, helping identify risks and improve overall data protection. She also interned in software development at Claira Technology, where she gained hands-on experience in data analysis and software optimization.

For Yaire, success isn’t about meeting external timelines or expectations. It’s about staying aligned with her own values. As she works toward graduation, she remains committed to supporting her peers. Yaire’s perseverance proves that underrepresented students can thrive in tech and redefine what leadership looks like along the way.

CEW+ celebrates Yaire’s journey as a Latina in computer science and names her a 110% Scholarship Scholar.

View Original Source