2023 Newsletter

Just a brief Newsletter this time as we're rushing out the door to start our end-of-year travels!

2023 started in a snowstorm in Tahoe, surrounded by Rocío's family and Ernst's mom. It was a great start to a wonderfully "stable" year.

Both kids are now in middle school - we have a 6th and an 8th-grader. Anna Sofia will start high school in the fall of 2024, which is something we're all a little nervous about. Her current aspiration is to become a pathologist so she can do meaningful work with fun microscopes. Liam continues to hone his goofball skills, working on joke-delivery, and he says he's interested in marine biology. 

Rocío and the organization she leads, Latinas in Tech, is kicking butt. The organization continues to grow and the bigger it gets the more impact it is able to have on the life of Latinas, especially those in Tech - helping them chart a path to becoming "jefas"! 

You might find Rocío trying to change the world at the World Economic Forum in Davos, or speaking at conferences - it's hard for Ernst and the kids to keep up. Rocío's work is gaining recognition as she was named one of the 50 Most Powerful Latinas by ALPFA and she received a Hispanic Star Award for "Changemakers Shaping The U.S." at the 2023 Hispanic Leadership Summit hosted at the United Nations HQ by Ashoka and the We Are All Human Foundation.

Ernst's company, Sila, is steadily marching through the scale-up journey from startup to large-scale innovative material manufacturer. They had an amazing year as well allowing them to announce multiple commercial deals, the ground-breaking of the new factory they are building in Washington state, and being named on Fortune's Impact 20 list. 

Rocío and the kids took abuelita & abuelito to Hawaii for the summer while Ernst attended a battery conference in Germany and then helped his mom move the last of her things (really the last though?) to her new charming home in a village right next to Arnhem. Rocío's goal was to end up with a new sibling by bringing her parents to such a beautiful and romantic destination...

And now off to pack the last bag! Pictures of this trip will *definitely* be part of any newsletter we write about 2024.