Some stories justify the existence of a project all on their own. The story of Luisa Catalina Urrutia Aldana is one of them.
Colombian, an immigrant, and with her administrative situation still pending resolution, Luisa decided in November 2025 to join the first group of participants of the Closing the Digital Gap (CTDG) programme in Madrid, through the collaboration between Asociación Building Bridges / YesEuropa, Fundación Solidaridad Amaranta (FSA) and WANAWAKE. She did not know then that that workshop would change the course of the months to come.
Nerves hidden behind humour
Those who were in that first workshop remember Luisa with a smile. She masked her nerves with humour, but from the very first moment something about her stood out: her proactivity. While other participants were still finding their footing with the content, Luisa was already answering questions, engaging with the material and, almost without anyone asking her to, helping the women around her.
It was simply her way of being in the world.
A seed that kept on growing
What happened next is what turns this story into something extraordinary.
After completing the CTDG programme, Luisa did not stop. She continued developing herself in the field of ICT, with a particular interest in cybersecurity, combining the training resources offered by Fundación Amaranta with her own initiative and open-access materials. Nobody asked her to. She did it because she chose to.
When, six months later, the time came to plan the second and third rounds of the CTDG programme with new groups at WANAWAKE, it was the organisation’s own coordinator who passed on the message: Luisa wanted to come back. This time, as a trainer.
“It was absolute elation. Finding out about someone six months later and learning that they have kept on growing on their own — that they have watered and cultivated the seed you planted during a course — that is what we call impact.”
José María Imbert, project lead at Building Bridges
Inside the classroom: where everything made sense
Luisa joined the training team alongside Luisa Iossa and José María Imbert to co-deliver the workshops on cybersecurity, working in the cloud, and LinkedIn & Content Marketing.
From the very first moment, her presence inside the classroom was different. She did not come to occupy a space: she came to enrich it. In the preparatory meetings, she volunteered her own knowledge and lived experience to deepen the content. And during the sessions, in those moments when something needed to truly land with the group, it was Luisa who found the right words.
Because Luisa was not speaking from a manual, she was speaking from experience. And in a room full of women who share similar contexts, that carries a weight that no teaching material can replicate.
Her warmth, her sense of humour and her innate ability to connect with participants added a richness and a depth to the training that made a real difference.
The news that arrived at just the right moment
During the very training sessions she was co-delivering, Luisa received news she had been waiting a long time for: her definitive residency documents in Spain had been approved. The NIE — the paper that opens doors, that turns waiting into possibility.
From that moment on, Luisa is free to pursue work opportunities anywhere in Spain and across the whole of Europe.
That this news reached her precisely while she was standing at the front of a classroom, training other women, is not just a beautiful coincidence. It is a symbol.
What Luisa represents for the project
The Closing the Digital Gap programme was born with the goal of reducing the digital divide that disproportionately affects women in vulnerable situations, equipping them with the tools and knowledge to improve their employability in the technology sector.
Luisa Catalina Urrutia Aldana did not simply reach that goal. She exceeded it, multiplied it and gave it back to the project in the form of leadership, generosity and talent.
Her story proves that when real opportunities are offered to people with real determination, the impact does not end on the last day of the workshop. It begins there.
A message for Luisa
This article would not be complete without saying it directly.
Luisa, your contribution is not just relevant: it is invaluable. What you bring into a classroom — your knowledge, your context, your ability to connect with people, that sense of humour that breaks down barriers and opens minds — are the ingredients of an exceptional trainer and a leader in the making.
The path you have travelled in less than a year speaks for itself. And the road ahead of you promises to be, without any doubt, full of success.
Thank you for trusting the programme. Thank you for staying. Thank you for coming back and giving it everything you had.
This article is part of the dissemination activities of the Closing the Digital Gap (CTDG) project, ref. 2024-2-NL01-KA210-ADU-000290992, co-funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ programme (KA210-ADU). The views expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the EACEA.
Project implemented in Spain by Asociación Building Bridges / YesEuropa, in collaboration with Fundación Solidaridad Amaranta (FSA) and WANAWAKE.
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