Organizations are being impacted by the rapid advances in Information Technology (IT), and motivated IT leaders are critical. Gender is also an issue in IT since women are underrepresented in IT leadership positions worldwide and in Latin America. This research in progress aims to assess a model of factors that could impact the motivation to lead of IT professionals. The proposed model integrates the occupational culture framework and the construct of the importance of gender equality policies. Previous research found that people in the IT occupation have unique characteristics that are different from other occupations. The theoretical frameworks of motivation to lead and IT occupational culture (ITOC) serve as a foundation for our research model. In addition, the construct importance of gender policies was designed and validated for this research. This research will be undertaken in the context of IT professionals in four countries in Latin America.