Ladies Learning Code

Return of the Intro to HTML/ CSS Workshop

When we say Intro to HTML/ CSS is our most popular workshop, you can bet we’re telling the truth! Not only is it popular with our learners (& sells out every time), we always get an overwhelming response from designers and developers who want to volunteer their time to mentor. We couldn’t do it without them and here are the wonderful folks who will be joining us on September 29 at the Centre For Social Innovation:

Co-Lead Instructor: Linn Øyen Farley (@linndelicate | http://drollic.net)
Freelance Web Designer – Building websites from scratch for a variety of fellow freelancers, small businesses and arts workers

What are you passionate about?  “Hand-writing code and convincing self-professed “non-technical” people that they can get their hands dirty with code, too.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code?  “I’ve been fortunate to have mentors and friends that encouraged me to get into a technical career, and I’m grateful to have the chance to continue paying it forward via such an awesome group of ladies! After mentoring eight times in 2012, this will be my first-ever workshop leading experience, and I’m totally excited about it. Clearly, LLC is awesome at pushing both their learners and their volunteers outside of their usual comfort zones (in an enjoyable way!).”

Co-Lead Instructor: Greg Sullivan (http://swivelbase.com)
Principal at Swivel Base

What are you passionate about?  “Web design and development, one-page recipes and productivity books I don’t have time to read.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code?  “Women are underrepresented in the development community, and events like these help to demystify a field that should be accessible to everyone.”

Peter Newhook (@p337er | http://peternewhook.com)
Business Analyst at Cineplex Entertainment

What are you passionate about?  “Making enterprise software usable and enjoyable. When I’m not in front of a monitor, I’m finding a way to get on a bike.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code?  “Women are going to look at problems differently than men will, and come up with different solutions. As an industry we need more well trained women writing code.”

Brenna O’Brien (@brennaob | http://brennaobrien.com)
Front-End Web Developer at Filament Creative Inc.

What are you passionate about?  “The web and the community surrounding it, and music. . . lots of music.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code?  “I’d love to see girls and women involved in development be the norm, not the exception.”

Sima Patel (@clumsy_7)
Software Developer at Proofpoint Inc.

What are you passionate about?  “I’m passionate about education, mentoring, sharing and building on knowledge. It’s amazing how much someone can learn if they read a book, talk to someone, or do something completely new.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I’ve participated in mentoring as a female IT professional, and it’s important for me to continue to be involved in events and activities like this. I know that not everyone has the encouragement and exposure to the exciting things that this industry has to offer. I wished I had mentors and role models in the field when I was growing up to. Hopefully I can be that person to someone else.”

Anton Nguyen (@AntonNguyen | http://www.antonnguyen.com)
Front-end & Back-end Web Developer at FreshBooks.

What are you passionate about?  “I am passionate about technology and helping people learn.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I am a big believer of women in technology, so I decided to try help out at both the python and php workshops. It was such a great experience, that I knew I had to help out again!”

Phyliss Lee (@phyllers | http://www.nothingbutphyllers.com)
Software Developer & User Experience Designer at the Princess Margaret Hospital

What are you passionate about?  “Getting more women into software development, demystifying computers, and nail art.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code?  “It’s something I really want to support and I enjoy meeting lots of interesting people from different fields.”

Ana Grullon
Trade Floor Technology Consultant at Scotiabank

What are you passionate about?  “I am passionate about getting girls interested in Computer Science and helping those who are currently Computer Science on a post-secondary level to continue on with their studies. Because of this I have gotten involved with both Gr8 Designs for Gr8 Girls and my campus’ Mathematical and Computational Sciences Sciences academic society, in which I help organize social events in order to get first year students acquainted with upper year students and faculty members.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code?  “I would like to get involved with Ladies Learning Code because of my passion to get more women into this industry. I also believe that even simply having these skills would be a great addition to anyone’s skill set, regardless of their career.”

Angela Chen (@chenangela)
Full-time student at George Brown College and Freelance Graphic Designer

What are you passionate about?  “Making a difference in peoples lives, for the better. ”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “It’s a great organization because it’s empowering girls and females.”

Kevin Lee (@livekeen | http://livekeen.com)
Freelance Graphic Designer specializing in UI / UX design

What are you passionate about?  “The web, Japan and food — especially japanese food ordered while sharing it on the web!”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code?  “I believe the more you teach a craft, the better you get at that craft.”

Ethan Clarke (http://ethanclarke.ca)
Organizer, Facilitator, & Communicator

What are you passionate about?  “I have been a union organizer for several years and really enjoy watching people learn they have more power than they thought they did. I also have a technical knack and enjoy learning new ways to use technology to communicate with people.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code?  “I’m interested in seeing the pedagogy in action. I’ve done a lot of popular education but mostly around social issues. I’m interested in seeing how teaching tech stuff can happen in an alternative fashion.”

Natasha Rajakariar (@natashablu | http://www.natasharajakariar.com)
Rogers Digital Media – Web Producer for Chatelaine.com and Flare.com

What are you passionate about?  “Design, user experience, and technology. Especially when they all work together!”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code?  “The tech industry is interesting, challenging, and a lot of fun, and it would be great to have more women involved! I think LLC is such a great initiative. I’ve attended a couple of workshops myself, and was really impressed that the learning experience was both fun and accessible.”

Calvin Tennant (@calvintennant | http://calvintennant.com)
Web Developer & Designer at Myplanet Digital

What are you passionate about?  “I want to create products that enable people to work more efficiently.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code?  “I feel that it is important to introduce new people to the web development community.”

Meaghan Bent (@dbldnm | http://www.meaghanbent.com)
Front-End Web Developer and API specialist at Filemobile

What are you passionate about?  “Empowering people to create tools that help them in the real world and Web Development process.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code?  “Because it’s awesome, well done, a great initiative and I would like to be peers with excellent coding peers.”

Laurie M. Rauch (@lauriemrauch | http://codediva.com)
Owner and Chief Code Nerd at Code Diva

What are you passionate about?  “I am passionate about good, semantic, valid code. There’s something just so awesome about how a couple of lines of code can so dramatically transform a site and make it come together the way you want it to. Though I’ve also been known to get a little passionate about a cute purse, or the perfect pair of shoes.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I love being able to share my passion and how much fun coding can be with other people. When I was in school, my classes were more female-dominated, but in the real world, there does seem to be significantly more men as the go-to gurus of web development, so anything I can do to help other women who want to get into this whole coding game, I’m all for it.”

Pallak Grewal (@PallakGrewal)
Agile Engineer at Xtreme Labs

What are you passionate about?  “Usability, user experience, ease of use.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code?  “It is awesome.”

Tegan Mierle (@teganmierle | http://www.pilotinteractive.ca)
Creative Director / Co-founder at Pilot Interactive

What are you passionate about? ”Graphic design, user experience design, front end programming, dancing.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I think it’s important to get more women involved in our industry and show them how awesome programming is. I wanted to help out and share my skills with others because I think LLC is doing a great job of making coding accessible to everyone.”

Sarah Hum (@sarahhum | http://www.sarahhum.com)
Student at York/ Sheridan Design Honours Program

What are you passionate about? ”I am passionate about creating good design and I believe that a good look interface should be complimented with good looking code. I am optimistic for the future of the web and it’s potential for creating interactions, making life more efficient and engaging, and who knows what else in the next few years. I would love to be a part of creating something amazing. Of course, I do have a life outside of design so I also enjoy photography, delicious pastries, and finding the next great board game.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “In hindsight, as I learned to code mostly on my own, a mentor would have been really helpful. Now that I am past the basics, it would be great to share my knowledge or just lend a hand with others trying to do what I’d done previously.”

Max Barkley
Math and Computer Science student + spare time webmaster for ScratchVox

What are you passionate about? ”I’m in school right now, and I love my program. But when I need a break from that, I like to play guitar. Sometimes playing a song can undo the stress of a long day.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “A friend on Facebook posted a link about Ladies Learning Code, and I couldn’t help but appreciate the service they were providing. In the past I’ve enjoyed tutoring people, so I was excited about getting involved somehow.”

Malena Andrade (@malena_andrade | http://www.mandrade.com)
Front-end Web Developer at Trapeze

What are you passionate about? ”I am currently passionate about storytelling on the web. My main goal is to learn more about the latest trends in browser animation using advanced CSS3/HTML5 features as well as JavaScript animation libraries.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I love that this organization is exposing the web to females and males of all ages. I would like to get experience mentoring kids while perhaps learning a little from them as well.”

Alex Chesser
Application developer (web & iOS) at Klick.com + I also have a background as a high school teacher.

What are you passionate about? “Lots! Seriously… Technology, fitness, nutrition, business & entrepreneurship, entertainment & media…”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I like the social aspect, I miss teaching but can’t do it full time, helping with LLC seems a nice way to get the best of both worlds.”

Ryan Mudryk (@ry)
Freelance Designer & Developer

What are you passionate about?  “Herding unicorns, web standards and user experience. Mostly herding unicorns though.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “The generous web community, whether directly or otherwise, is single-handedly responsible for the successes I’ve had thus far in my career. When presented with the opportunity to give something back via Ladies Learning Code, participating was a no-brainer.”

Michael Thompson (@MW_Thompson | http://www.mwthompson.com)
Freelance Online Media Professional

What are you passionate about? ”My passion is interactive storytelling. Whether I’m producing a web series, creating a digital environment, or building a robot, my focus is on telling an engaging and experience-driven story. I’m passionate about learning and sharing knowledge. I’m also an entrepreneur at heart and am always working on the next big idea (fingers crossed).”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “If The Mary Tyler Moore Show isn’t enough proof that we need more women in media then I don’t know what is. More seriously though, while professional women still face adversity every day, the issue is often underrepresented or unstated. I’m an advocate for equality in the workplace and have huge respect and admiration for Ladies Learning Code.”

Marion Green (@paper_starz | http://mariongreen.ca)
Web Designer at Bell Media

What are you passionate about? ”I am passionate about art, design, and of course, everything web. Along with my job, I continue to work freelance on various design and art projects. I stay active in the art community by participating in gallery events and collaborating with other artists.”

Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I would love to get involved with Ladies Learning Code because I believe education and technology should be available and affordable to everyone. I want to take what I have learned over the years, and help others achieve their goals. ”

Thanks to this group – now let’s make some wonderful websites!

For more info about Ladies Learning Code, follow us on Twitter or check out our Facebook Page. If you’d like to join our email list, click here or to volunteer as a Mentor, join our developer email list.