RuralWO: Women, WordPress, and the Power of Building Community from the Rural
In recent years, at Anceu Coliving, we have seen how technology and rural life can intertwine to build something greater, they can build community.
From that conviction, RuralWO was born, an initiative that brings together women, WordPress, and territory, with the purpose of giving space and visibility to women’s work within the WordPress community, offering tools to foster their professional growth, and generating a positive impact in rural areas through the creation of websites for local initiatives.
A space for women within the WordPress community
WordPress is, above all, an open community. Thousands of people around the world contribute every day through code, design, translation, documentation, or events. But within that global ecosystem, there are still voices that are not always heard as strongly as they deserve, the voices of women.
África Rodríguez, founder of Rural Hackers, has been involved in the WordPress community for many years. Her curiosity led her to participate in projects and events in the sector, where she realized that more women were needed. She herself longed for a more feminist, united, and personal support network, and she knew that only other women could provide it.
From that need, RuralWO was born, with the intention of giving visibility to female talent, facilitating access to learning opportunities, and accompanying participants’ professional growth within the WordPress world. We want more women to feel part of this community, not only as users but as creators, mentors, open-source project leaders, and role models for other women.
So we asked ourselves: how could we make it happen? What circumstances allow a woman to feel empowered? The answer came almost instinctively: by creating a support network among them. Thus, RuralWO set out to offer residencies in our coliving space, where, for one month, participants live together, work, learn, collaborate, and develop real projects with social impact.
A rural residency to connect technology and territory
For one month, participants gather at Anceu Coliving, surrounded by Galician nature, forests, community, and calm. Here, the rhythm is different: there is time to think, share, and listen. In this environment, residents work on creating websites that support local initiatives, helping them build a digital presence, tell their stories, and strengthen their impact.
The program offers free accommodation throughout the residency, a €500 grant for daily expenses, four individual mentoring sessions with professionals from the WordPress community and the Rural Hackers team, the development of an open-source project created by participants for the community, and, above all, a month of shared living, collaboration, and learning.
Collective learning and technological sisterhood
When we thought about how to create long-term impact, we realized that our formula was not spending all our time in front of a screen, but building a solid network. And that happens in many moments: around the table, during after-meal conversations, in mentoring sessions, brainstorming, or late-night chats. Also in the gesture of helping when something doesn’t work, or in the shared silence of a morning of work.
This shared life generates a symbiotic kind of learning, a way of valuing different profiles and recognizing that everyone has something to contribute, beyond the technical. Bonds of trust are built, active listening is practiced, and mutual support becomes natural. Each woman brings something different, one knows about design, another about SEO, another about project management, another about communication or art, and together they create a small community where knowledge flows freely.
The spirit of RuralWO is based on technological sisterhood: supporting one another, learning together, and creating together. This collaborative energy, far from the competitive dynamics of urban or corporate environments, becomes the true strength of the program.
This year five women participated in the project, talking with these amazing women we found out amazing things. For Hannah Ruffles, this project reminded her the power of creativity and how that side of her was lost. She said:
“This project is related to my business, but I didn’t see wordpress like that, so this project gave me the opportunity to play with something new, somehow it refreshed my view on it, so now I consider it a lot too, and I’ll definitely use it in my work. It was great to build new skills, but the key thing for me is that I wanted to connect with my creativity, and I had the opportunity to do that. The project we worked on particular needed a lot of visual creativity input, so it gave me the opportunity to work more on my skills, something that I love but I don’t do in my business. As well as creative thinking, to have freedom to just play, and that was the thing i was looking for in this moment of my life”.
Stories that inspire
For many women like Sara Piñeiro, the goal of this projects was not only to learn WordPress tools but to experience creating together, turning ideas into useful projects, and paving the way for new generations of women in technology. She said:
“When I discovered RuralWO, I instantly wanted to apply. A project for women, in a rural setting… amazing! Just the name already caught my attention. In the tech world there are very few women, we are very alone. If through this we can build a community and strengthen the female presence in this field, that’s incredible!”
For Anabelle Schwarz, another RuralWo, it was an interesting challenge because, in her opinion, her profile might not fit the project. However, once she started, she realized that the goal of RuralWo was not to make you more competitive but to create a network of women who empower each other. She told us:
“At first I was a bit worried, I didn’t know if I would fit in. There are people with more experience and others with less, but in this project you don’t have to be perfect: you’re here to learn, grow, and enjoy working together. Working in a group is more fun; you focus better, you concentrate better.”
Real impact: supporting local projects
One of the most special aspects of RuralWO is its direct impact on the territory. Each participant works on a project that responds to a real need in the environment. In this edition, we supported two initiatives created by our Anceu Ambassadors: RuralChamps, a gym and basketball school managed by Víctor, and La Imaginaria, literary gatherings promoted by Ana, a coliver who travels around Galicia in her “furgolibro” (book van) selling second-hand books.
Both projects revitalize the parish and promote local culture and sports. For Anabelle, that was what motivated her the most:
“When they told us about the projects we were going to support, I felt very happy and grateful. These are people who live here, connected to the rural environment, and being able to help them through technology was very beautiful.”
Learning is put at the service of the community. What is created does not stay within the coliving space, it remains in the village. It’s a way of showing that technology, which often seems distant from rural life, can be a tool for development. Each website created tells a story, that of a place, a person, or an initiative gaining a voice in the digital world.
The participants also had mentoring sessions led by Nacho and África, spaces for technical guidance and conversations about career, leadership, and personal growth. In this case, the mentoring sessions were held in groups, allowing each participant to share her needs, opinions, and ideas.
The rural as inspiration
We believe that the rural world has something to teach us. Here, ideas find the space and calm to mature. The natural environment stimulates creativity, and living alongside the local community reminds us that technology must serve people, not the other way around.
RuralWO is also a tribute to this more collective and conscious way of creating. The sound of the leaves, morning walks, coffee shared with neighbors, or spontaneous workshops all become part of the creative process. The women who come to Anceu not only develop digital projects, they also go through a personal transformation.
Anabelle summed it up this way:
“I love being here, it’s beautiful. When you’re in a place like this, you find more calm within yourself. If you’re in balance and at peace, if you feel like you belong here, it’s easier to help others. Being part of this project, knowing that we are creating something together to help others, makes my heart sing.”
Helena Constela, another RuralWo added:
“A place like Anceu shows you what the future could be like elsewhere. Imagine if all villages were like this, with projects to revitalize the countryside and the community. It’s like a magnifying glass into the future, and that’s really cool.”
A network that keeps growing
Sara, who has been in web development for years, shared her vision:
“In Coruña, I’ve been attending WordPress events for years. Yes, there are women, but most are men, and that creates a barrier. If we can create groups like this, especially for young girls who are just starting and can see that there’s a strong community of women in WordPress, that’s great.”
When participants leave Anceu, the project doesn’t end. Many stay in touch and collaborate on new projects. RuralWO aspires to create an international network of women in WordPress who not only code or design but also lead, inspire, and support one another. A decentralized, open, and collaborative network connected by the same philosophy that gave rise to WordPress: shared knowledge.
What begins in a small Galician coliving space extends to many parts of the world, rural communities, tech associations, events, and projects that carry the mark of this collective experience .
The future we want to build
RuralWO is, in essence, a statement of intent.
We want a digital world that is more equitable, human, and connected to rural reality. We want women to play a leading role in technology. We want villages to be part of the innovation conversation.
We believe this can only be achieved through collaboration, empathy, and concrete action: sharing knowledge, accompanying processes, and creating together. The dream is for each edition of RuralWO to inspire new initiatives and more spaces where women can learn, teach, and lead within the WordPress ecosystem, while the rural territory comes alive through technology, art, and community.
Helena sums it up like this:
“For me, the key to living in the world in general is community. It’s my greatest motivation. Beyond the technical aspect, the most important thing was living in community, meeting incredible people, and surrounding myself with those doing amazing projects.”
An open invitation
RuralWO is an invitation:
to women who work, or dream of working, in the digital world;
to those looking for tools to grow professionally;
to those who want to connect technology and purpose;
and to those who believe the future of the rural world lies in collaboration and innovation.
As Helena says:
“The only way to be sustainable is to go back to the roots: to have an active life, participate in the community, revitalize the ecosystem, reforest, make the environment better. This project allowed us to meet each other, create a mutual support network, and find people who think like you. The beautiful thing about RuralWO was precisely that there were five of us.”
At Anceu Coliving, we continue to support projects that transform the way we understand work, learning, and community. We believe that when people live and create together, the impact goes far beyond any screen. Because when a woman is empowered, her entire community changes. And when a group of women come together to learn, share, and create, they can transform much more than their own path, they can transform an entire territory.