This is a very special interview, it is the first I will do with women leaders in the world of technology, to celebrate all the work we do every day. A sector mostly inhabited by men; however, there are women, and many of them hold positions of great responsibility or have carried out outstanding projects.
Did you know that:
–Ada Lovelace (1815 – 1852) was the first to recognize that the machine had applications beyond pure calculation and to have published what is recognized today as the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine, so she is considered the first computer programmer 1.
–Grace Hopper (1906-1992) was the inventor of the first compiler for programming languages. Her work facilitated the development of COBOL, one of the first high-level languages 2.
–Katherine Johnson (1918 – 2020) was a NASA mathematician whose contributions were key to calculating the trajectories of the Apollo space missions 3.
More recently, we can mention:
–Radia Perlman, inventor of the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), is fundamental to the functioning of modern networks (such as the Internet) 4.
–Marissa Mayer: She was an engineer at Google from its inception and later became the CEO of Yahoo. She led the development of products such as Google Maps, Gmail, and Google Search 5.
–Sheryl Sandberg: Ex-COO of Facebook, key to the transformation of the platform into an advertising giant and its growth on a global scale 6.
–Susan Wojcicki: Ex-CEO of YouTube. Under his leadership, the platform grew exponentially and consolidated its monetization model 7.
There are more of us every day, but there is little visibility, so I would like to talk in the form of an interview with women leaders in the technology sector and learn about their challenges, projects, and how they manage their day-to-day professional lives.
For this first podcast, I’m delighted to welcome Rocío Valdivia. She has been 16 years in the WordPress Community, 10 years working remotely, and 10 years in the Global Communities Team in the WordPress.org project. There is an art to mediating between people, and she does it every day. I chatted with her to learn a bit more about her career and experience. She shared a lot of details, and the following advice:
“Well, in my experience, a little bit of advice for anyone who’s building a community is to try to really connect with people. That’s, in my opinion, the only way you can get people to really connect and stay, right? I mean, you can get someone’s interest for five seconds, but having that person come back and stay and contribute and help for years is another matter. So, normally that is done around a vision, around values, and around something in common, right? So, if you make it clear, if you make it clear to everyone what that vision is, what those values are, and what it is that they are joining, that’s when there really is something that unites them and why they stay and will come back.”
Before we get into the interview, let’s take a look at her resume:
Biography: Computer engineer from the University of Seville and regular speaker at seminars and conferences on open-source, WordPress, remote and distributed work, women in technology, net neutrality, data rights and protection, and community building.
Currently he is: -Manager of Strategic Growth and Alliances – LATAM and Spain, and Leader of the WordPress | open-source Software (FOSS) Global Community Programs -Strategy Leader for the open-source Community, sponsored by Automattic. Leads the team overseeing the global Polyglots and Community programs within the Automattic-sponsored division under Five for the Future.
Books: Co-author of “WordPress for Dummies.” Nov 2012. Conferences: Has been a speaker at more than 80 seminars and events in Europe, America, and Asia over the past 12 years.
Recent lectures: – “Efficiency and collaboration: best practices for remote meetings” (WordCamp Granada 2024) – “Roundtable discussion Tourism and open-source” (WordCamp Granada 2024) – “Changes in WordPress event organization” (WordCamp Chiclana 2024) – “Why are community events important?” (WordCamp Madrid 2023)
My Favorite Rocío Conferences:
–Connecting the dots: WordPress, open-source, net neutrality, and privacy. WordCamp Madrid 2018.
–Efficiency and collaboration: Best practices for successful remote meetings. WordPress Meetup WordPress Denia event. Remote work: transforming the future with WordPress. 19-Oct-2024.
Thank you very much, Rocío, for dedicating a little bit of your time and sharing with me some of your experiences. It has been a pleasure, especially considering that I know your work closely. Finally, she told me about her next challenge.
Enjoy the interview, and if you liked it, subscribe!
A quick note: The video is a bit slow due to connection issues. I apologize .)
Entrevista Rocío Valdivia en Mujeres Líderes
Fuentes:
- Ada Lovelace. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, [10 jun 2025 a las 20:21] https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace
- Grace Murray Hopper. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, [17 jun 2025 a las 19:01] https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Murray_Hopper
- Katherine Johnson. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, [4 June 2025, at 01:03 (UTC)] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson
- Radia Perlman. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, [30 May 2025, at 21:22 (UTC)] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radia_Perlman
- Marissa Mayer. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, [23 jun 2025 a las 17:33] https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marissa_Mayer
- Sheryl Sandberg. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, [5 July 2025, at 18:42 (UTC)] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheryl_Sandberg
- Susan Wojcicki. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, [21 June 2025, at 23:28 (UTC)] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Wojcicki
