More than 450 software developers, mostly people of Latin origin, participated in the Latin@ Coder Summit (LLCS) hosted by the Hispanic Heritage Foundation at Stanford University on Saturday. The participants included students, entrepreneurs as well as professionals.

Latin Post reports that the LLCS, which is the largest gathering of Latino American programmers, was a free, one-day event that included workshops, discussions as well as networking opportunities.

Speaking on the occasion, president and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation Jose Antonio Tijerino said, "The thought that the tech industry can't find Latino programmers leads to the notion that there aren't any Latino programmers and the next thought will be that Latinos aren't capable, which is absolutely not true - and we want to prove it."

According to the report, Tijerino went on to explain, "Seeing a Latino programmer shouldn't be akin to seeing a unicorn. ... We want to continue to shatter stereotypes and redefine the landscape of computer technology in Silicon Valley and across America while building a stronger community of innovators to move forward with greater unity, purpose and vision. The Summit is the first step then the CSL Initiative and other programs throughout the year we have developed to ensure Latinos have a strong presence in the tech industry."

The Latin@ Coder Summit was part of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation's latest LOFT Code as a second language. The Foundation is utilizing their networks to help launch computer programming for students all over America. An eight-session course has been developed to teach programming to elementary, middle and high school students.

According to Tijerino, "We want to help immigrants provide America with a value proposition in the workforce from the moment they start the process to live in the U.S."