Guayaquil, March 6, 2023 – At the facilities of the Ecuadorian-American Chamber of Commerce in Guayaquil, LIDE officially launched the New Dimensions program. This initiative, run by the Ecuadorian Development Research Lab (LIDE) with funding from the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador, offers professional training in business intelligence for women from disadvantaged backgrounds.

During the inauguration, scholarship recipients and their families had the opportunity to learn more about the program, meet the instructors, and gain insight into the challenges they will tackle in the coming months. The event was attended by key program partners: the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador, DataCamp, Adecco, the Argos Technological Institute, and the Leonidas Ortega Moreira Foundation.

Chigozie Okocha, Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy, reaffirmed the diplomatic mission’s commitment to the initiative:

“Promoting gender equality and education across the Americas is one of the main objectives of the U.S. government,”
— Chigozie Okocha, U.S. Embassy in Ecuador

Alonso Quijano, Program Director of New Dimensions and Co-Director of LIDE, expressed his gratitude to the partner institutions and praised the students for their accomplishment:

“The selection process was very rigorous—over 600 candidates applied. The quality of the applications and the level of skill demonstrated by the applicants was impressive, which made the selection process quite challenging,”
— Alonso Quijano, New Dimensions Program Director

Joining the event virtually from New York, Nathaniel Taylor-Leach, Director of Social Impact at DataCamp, welcomed the students and expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership. He emphasized that DataCamp, the world’s leading online platform for learning data science, provides free access to its services through the DataCamp Donates initiative. He also highlighted that LIDE is currently the only NGO in Ecuador included in DataCamp’s global network of more than 100 accredited organizations.

The program’s first class is scheduled for March 8, aligning symbolically with International Women’s Day—a date that reflects the program’s commitment to empowering women through education and technology.

LIDE remains deeply committed to reducing the gender gap in data science and is confident in securing continued support to ensure the New Dimensions program can be sustained and expanded in the years to come.