On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on the TechTO stage in 2019. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Melissa ↗
In their words
A period of time in our history where we grew five times — five times team, operating budget. At the beginning of 2018 we were just under seven full-time employees. Now we're just over 50 full-time staff in 13 cities across Canada.
We had the language all wrong. We were thinking about volunteering for our work as asking people to give something up — to give up their weekend, to give up their expertise — and it felt really icky, like we were taking something from someone.
Around the web ×1
Quick answers
What is Canada Learning Code?
A national charity that runs technology learning experiences, started in 2011 as Ladies Learning Code. Sariffodeen co-founded it and was CEO until it merged with the digital-literacy charity Ampere in September 2025.
What does she do now?
She is founder and CEO of Arcbright, which is searching for one Canadian business to acquire and run, and she teaches at Ivey Business School at Western University.
What was the volunteer model?
One technical volunteer for every four learners in a workshop. She told TechTO the team initially thought it would never scale, and that the fix was reframing the ask as mutual value rather than a favour.