The Blog
Meet the JavaScript Mentors!
The event that started it all is back! Pearl Chen and Co-Lead Christina Truong will be leading another awesome Intro to JavaScript workshop alongside our dedicated mentors. Take a look at all the brilliant people who will be supporting learners this Saturday!
Co-Lead Instructor: Pearl Chen (@pearlchen | Google+)
From LEDs to HTML, Android hacking to micro-controllers — Pearl Chen takes on a cross-disciplinary approach to her work.
With over 8 years of professional experience in web technologies, Pearl has a body of work that ranges from Facebook campaigns for Google Chrome, microsites for Nike, and WordPress customizations for craib.com. Pearl was most recently the Research & Technology Manager at the CFC Media Lab and is now currently acting as CTO for The Hungry Veg, a startup for vegetarians that she co-founded.
Alongside her web developer work, Pearl also tackles more unusual jobs such as modifying the guts of Nintendo Wii controllers, making toys talk to her Android device, and holding electronics workshops (http://gplus.to/klab).
She can be reached on Google+ (http://klab.ca/+), on Twitter (@androidsNsheep), or old-fashioned email (pearl[at]karma-laboratory.com).
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? For my entire professional career (especially while freelancing as a web developer), I have never found myself working with another professional female developer (except once when I was involved in the hiring process). So…where are you, ladies? What scared you off? I hope Ladies Learning Code will help me answer this.
Co-Lead Instructor: Christina Truong (@christinatruong |
http://christinatruong.com | http://www.teehanlax.com/author/christina/)
Front End Developer and occasional blogger at Teehan+Lax, a digital experience agency.
Christina Truong has been in the web industry for 5+ years. She has agency experience working for major brands such as Virgin Mobile, Bell, Home Depot, KFC and Holt Renfrew as well as freelance work with small businesses and personal websites. She has participated in the initiative to encourage more women to join the technology field by volunteering for Ladies Learning Code as a guest speaker, mentor and now as an instructor.
Conrad Muan (@radicalradical | http://www.radicalradical.com/)
Independent Web Developer, front end and server side
What are you passionate about? “I’m passionate about moving the web forward and creating solid user experiences. I believe that coding is an art form and should be something we learn early on: like arts and crafts time in kindergarten.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I saw an opportunity to spread the thing that I love to do to a demographic that is (unfortunately) not represented very well in my industry.”
Chris Ragobeer (@chrisragobeer | http://www.reachstreet.com)
Jack of all trades at Reachstreet
What are you passionate about? “Learning new things.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “To help teach what I know.”
Garth Gutenberg (http://grinninggecko.com/)
Mobile, Video and WordPress team/technical lead at Postmedia
What are you passionate about? “Technology! The progress of technology, building things (out of code), the impact of technology on our lives.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “My sister attended one of the sessions and spoke very highly of it. I enjoy giving back and using my expertise to help others.”
Carla Alexander (@heycarlita | http://www.heycarla.com)
I’m a Front-End & Mobile Developer at Unata Inc. I work with a team to create and maintain mobile applications.
What are you passionate about? Hockey, video games, fashion, cupcakes, and coding of course!”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “While I was still a student I attended some of the workshops and loved them. Everyone was so friendly and supportive – from the experienced programmers to the total beginners. I think LLC is a great cause and I wanted to give back… so here I am!”
Anusha Chohan (@anushac6)
Front end web developer, focusing on HTML/CSS and JavaScript.
What are you passionate about? “Design and creating beautiful applications/sites.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “It’s a great cause and just want to help others with the skills I have.”
Ryan Christiani (@Rchristiani | http://www.ryanchristiani.com)
Front-end Developer at Trioro
What are you passionate about? “I am passionate about the web and new technology, I think it is an amazing time to be on the web right now, so much is constantly changing! I am extremely passionate about learning, since graduating college and deciding to learn and pursue a career path only vaguely related to my degree, I really appreciate people constantly striving to learn more! You are never done learning and expanding your knowledge!”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I graduated with a degree in illustration a while ago, and right out decided I wanted to work on the web. I want to get involved with Ladies Learning Code because I only wish when I was starting out there was something like this around. A large community coming together to teach and learn sounds pretty awesome. And I want to be a part of it in some way.”
Dmytro Yashkir (@dyashkir | http://dyashkir.com)
Web framework engineer at http://engag.io.
What are you passionate about? ”Buildings things (mostly with code), beer, minimalist running, soccer, hiking.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Helping people who want to learn this amazing thing that we do is inspiring!”
Vladimir Drizhepolov (@vovko | http://vovko.ca)
Web Developer
What are you passionate about? “Technology and cycling.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I enjoy teaching and sharing.”
Kareem Sabri (@kareem_sabri | http://www.beaucoupon.ca)
Founder & Engineer at Beaucoupon
What are you passionate about? “Solving hard problems, learning new skills.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Because I love teaching people.”
Ellen Saunders (@ellensayshello | http://www.ellensaunders.com)
Freelance user experience and front end web designer
What are you passionate about? ”I am passionate about creating great online experiences for users. I am also passionate about exploring technology and lifelong learning!”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? ”I like being involved with Ladies Learning Code because it gives me the chance to help others improve their technological skills.”
Graham Robertson (@grahamzibar | http://www.graham-robertson.ca)
Freelance user experience and front end web designer
What are you passionate about? ”JavaScript!!”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? ”I enjoy nothing more than to share my experiences and knowledge to hopefully get someone just as enthusiastic about web technologies as much as me. Also, the fact that ladies learning code is trying to shift the face of the development community is amazing and I would love nothing more than to help contribute to that.”
Arron Gibson (@arrongibson | http://infinitymedia.ca)
Front-end Web Developer at Shaw Media & Chief Technical Officer at Infinity Media Services Inc.
What are you passionate about? “Music, web development, Teaching and helping people.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “My friend and co-worker Darrin Katz has told me it’s a great experience being a mentor so I’d love to be a part of it.”
Jonathan Hernandez (@jono_hernandez | http://jonohernandez.com)
Developer at SASCEA
What are you passionate about? “Videogames. Also learning new things, creating amazing applications that are simple to use.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I’ve been fortunate enough to work with a team of great people and learn a lot along the way from them. Ladies Learning Code is a great initiative that wants to do away with the preconceived notion that programming can be difficult to get into. It’d be great to be able to give back to the community and get more people introduced to some useful and very important tech.”
Abigail Cabunoc (@abbycabs | http://www.abigailcabunoc.com)
WormBase.org web developer at Ontario Institute for Cancer Research – I use the web to help scientists do science.
What are you passionate about? “Learning. Creating. Loving.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “When I was a teenager, I never considered becoming a developer – that was just for boys and gamers! But when I fell into it accidentally, I realized that this is what I want to do. I want to help make this field more accessible to everyone, including ladies.”
Dennis Erny (@denniserny | http://denniserny.com)
Front-end developer responsible for building and deploying WordPress and Kentico (.Net) sites using HTML5/CSS3/jQuery/Javascript within the applicable framework. I also freelance on the side where I have the opportunity to do design work as well.
What are you passionate about? “I am passionate about front-end technologies, web-design trends and family!”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I work at a fantastic agency that prides itself on hiring talented female developers/designers so I know first-hand how awesome it is to work in that sort of environment.”
Ajnu Jacob (@ajnu | http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~ajacob)
Liaison between the University of Waterloo Math Faculty, Maplesoft and Desire2Learn to bring together technology to best serve the delivery of education.
What are you passionate about? ”Technology. Programming. Math.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “To spark people’s interest in good programming.”
Lucas Rizoli (@lucasrizoli | http://lucasrizoli.com/)
Web Developer
What are you passionate about? ”Well-formed HTML and JavaScript. ”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Seemed like a good opportunity to learn by teaching, to introduce others to web programming as I wish I had been.”
Alan Leonard (@alanjleonard)
What are you passionate about? ”Coffee, Veganism, bikes, code. (Not in that order).”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I feel that there should be more gender equality in this field, but being a dude, there’s not much I can directly do about it. As soon as I heard about Ladies Learning Code, I wanted to get involved. I think its a great program to encourage and help woman to enter this field of work.”