Meet The Women Of Color Transforming Tech On BBC’s 100 Women List

Each year, the BBC honors 100 inspiring and influential women from around the globe, celebrating their contributions to society across various fields. 

This listicle highlights the women of color in tech who have earned a spot on the BBC 100 Women list this year. 

Gabriela Salas Cabrera, Mexico

Gabriela Salas Cabrera is a programmer and data scientist whose work bridges technology and cultural preservation. When her mother tongue, Náhuatl, was missing from Google Translate, Salas took action. Collaborating with the tech giant, she helped integrate Náhuatl and other indigenous Mexican languages into the platform, with the translator for Náhuatl going public earlier this year.

Kauna Malgwi, Nigeria

Kauna Malgwi is a union leader and clinical psychologist championing the rights of workers in the tech and AI sectors. As head of Nigeria’s Content Moderators Union, she sheds light on the often-invisible labor behind AI training. A former content moderator for Facebook, Malgwi faced severe psychological impacts from reviewing traumatic material, including insomnia and paranoia. She is one of 184 former moderators suing Meta and its subcontractors in Kenya for unlawful termination.

Sara Berkai, UK/Eritrea

Sara Berkai, an Eritrean born in Sudan and raised in London, was the first in her family to attend university, Berkai studied child development before founding Ambessa Play, a social enterprise creating DIY educational kits for children. Her approach actively involves kids in toy design, fostering creativity and engagement. Inspired by her experiences teaching STEM workshops to displaced children in Ethiopia and Eritrea in 2019, her kits empower learning in underserved communities.

Sunita Williams, US

Sunita Williams, a NASA astronaut and retired Navy helicopter pilot, embarked on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft on 5 June for what was meant to be an eight-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS). However, due to technical issues, her return to Earth has been delayed until February 2025. Williams holds the distinction of being the first person to run a marathon in space and once held the record for the most spacewalks by a woman. Now 250 miles above Earth, she describes the spacecraft as her “happy place,” embracing the challenges of the extended mission with positivity and determination.