Beth Soderberg is a web developer, artist, entrepreneur, and activist with a passion for open-source technologies, feminist politics, brussels sprouts, and critically ranking formulaic, Hallmark-style holiday movies.
Beth learned how to code while working in communications at the Feminist Majority Foundation — coding HTML emails, templates, and donation pages alongside writing news stories, blogs, and other media materials. She went on to become their internal web developer, responsible for maintaining front-end code and visual integrity for their seven websites and four blogs, and led multiple website designs for their various organizational properties.
Beth later brought her expertise to the agencies APCO Worldwide and CHIEF (now IntelliBridge), working for clients like Nestle, Mars, Johnson & Johnson, the World Bank, and CSX and leading the front-end development of a previous version of APCO’s website. She served for six years on Automattic’s Special Projects Team, where she specialized in complex AA and AAA-rated accessible builds, and was a contributor to the WordPress Core Twenty Twenty One default theme in WordPress 5.6 alongside a historic all-women and non-binary release team.
Alongside her full-time work, Beth cultivated an independent practice as a designer and developer, crafting custom websites and other digital collateral for small businesses, nonprofits, campaigns, and individuals for over five years.
Beth saw firsthand through her career building websites how managing one could be a scary and frustrating experience for clients. In 2021, she launched Bethink Studio to expand the work she had been doing independently with big and small clients to build websites that they could manage and sustain on their own. As CEO and Lead Developer at Bethink, Beth architects website builds, engineers integrations, codes themes, and leads a team doing digital differently.
Beth writes and speaks regularly about web development, technology, and the social issues at the core of the industry at conferences and events around the country. She was a founding member of DCFemTech, a collective of women in tech groups, and was an original organizer of two flagship events for the organization: Inspire, a networking skills event, and Hack for Good, a hackathon benefitting DC-based non-profits and independent community projects.
Beth is also a longtime contributor to the WordPress open source project and a devoted member of the WordPress community. She has served as a co-organizer for the WordPress DC Meetup for nearly a decade, is a co-organizer of WordCamp DC, and was a team representative for the WordPress Training Team for three years. She is a regular speaker at WordCamps and has spoken at WordCamp US twice.
Offline, Beth has a creative practice that is centered around portraiture and patterns. She works primarily as a reduction woodcut printmaker, but also dabbles in linocut printmaking, screenprinting, and painting. She is always enrolled in at least one continuing education course in printmaking, graphic design, or painting from the Art League of Alexandria, Discover Graphics Atelier, and/or the Rhode Island School of Design.
Beth earned BAs in both Psychology and in Women’s and Gender Studies from American University and a certificate in Web Design from the Corcoran College of Art & Design. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband, three kiddos, two cats, and a growing collection of antiques bought at auction. (Not to brag, but the auctioneers know her by name.)