Anyssa Ferreira Awarded the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship

Back in August, the WordPress Foundation began accepting applications for the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship not only serves as a memorial, but gives one woman in the WordPress community an opportunity to attend WordCamp US with financial assistance from the foundation.

Anyssa Ferreira

The WordCamp US website announced Anyssa Ferreira, a Brazilian designer, feminist, and WordPress community activist as the first recipient of the scholarship. Ferreira organized and spoke at WordCamp São Paulo in 2014 and designed the event’s website. She was the only woman to speak and volunteer at the event.

In 2015, Ferreira spoke at WordCamp Belo Horizonte on women working with WordPress in the Brazilian community. According to the post, Ferreira continues to play an active role encouraging women to get involved with WordPress and the technology field in Brazil:

She has worked to debunk the myth that women have no interest in WordPress and web development. She has explored why women were not participating, speaking personally with many female programmers, designers and other WordPress professionals about this important topic. She regularly invites women to attend her local WordPress meetup, and works to ensure that they feel welcome and wanted when they do attend.

Not only does Ferreira fulfill the scholarship’s requirements, she’s the type of woman Kim Parsell would love to meet and talk to in person.

Thanks again to Jen Mylo, the WordPress foundation, and Matt Mullenweg for not only creating the scholarship, but for providing an opportunity for people like Ferreira to experience the largest annual WordPress conference first-hand.