The Blog
Website Wonders: Meet The Girls Learning Code HTML & CSS Mentors!
Round two! We’re ready for the second Girls Learning Code workshop, Wonderful Website Tools: HTML& CSS! In this workshop girls will develop HTML and CSS skills through the process of creating a website about a topic they are passionate about – changing the world, One Direction, pizza, Ninja-cats – it’s totally their choice and the possibilities are endless! Helping these young minds establish themselves online are a fantastic line up of experienced mentors!
Lead Instructor: Tegan Mierle (@teganmierle | http://www.pilotinteractive.ca)
Creative Director / Co-founder at Pilot Interactive
Tegan is a Toronto based graphic designer and co-founder of Pilot Interactive. While completing a design degree from OCAD University, her interest in creative applications for technology led her to learn web development and programming alongside her education as a designer. After launching Pilot Interactive in 2009 with developer David Di Biase, she transitioned to the role of Creative Director and is helps bridge the gap between creative and programming. She has worked on both development and creative sides of projects for many brands, including Nike, Samsung, Hershey’s and Rogers.
Ashley Lewis (@AshleyJaneLewis | www.ashleyjanelewis.ca)
Event Producer, Girls Learning Code
Raised in the suburbs of Ontario, Ashley Lewis moved to Toronto to complete her degree. She is a tech savvy, Ryerson New Media grad with a passion for children’s content. Ashley is a hacking, interactive designer with a DIY mentality. With a background in fine art, she also enjoys painting, sculpting and drawing when she isn’t coding. She loves collaborating on creative projects with people of different specializations and is currently aiding in the launch of Toronto’s first mobile Children’s Museum, inspired by the late great Marshall McLuhan. She has worked and interned for companies like TIFF and CBC and is thrilled at the opportunity to add Ladies Learning Code to that list. As a lady learning code herself, she is excited at the thought of passing on that passion to younger generations.
GLC Event Producer: Kathryn Meisner (@KathrynMeisner)
Event Producer, Girls Learning Code
Kathryn Meisner loves inspiring young people to change the world. As a public speaker, workshop facilitator, and international trip facilitator with Me to We and Free the Children, she has helped more than 15,000 youth across North America be the change they wish to see. Organizining 7 We Days has shown her that youth can truly make a difference. Motivated by We Day, youth raised $5.4 million for charity last year. Kathryn has designed and facilitated customized curriculum for many organizations including the Toronto District School Board has created a national curriculum for the Girl Guides of Canada and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada. Eventually becoming a certified teacher, she has seen the powerful impact digital literacy can have in a student’s life – increased creativity, perseverance, and problem-solving skills. To support young people becoming contributors to the web, Kathryn is now an educational consultant. She is also a social media consultant for career building. Most recently, Kathryn has helped to organize Mozilla’s Hive Pop-Up which brought together kids and non-profits serving youth for a day of creating using tech. She loves being an Event Producer for Girls Learning Code because she knows it will empower girls to change the world through technology!
Laura Plant (@lauralynplant)
Director, Ladies Learning Code
Laura grew up all over Southwestern Ontario, moving around her whole life. Always “the new girl” Laura began to understand, pretty early on, the importance of relationships and “staying connected”. With an educational and professional background in Human Resources, Laura made the shift to the world of consulting four years ago and has not looked back. The link between technology and human relationships fascinates her. This has ignited a personal passion for exploring and helping others to learn how to leverage and evolve the technology available to us in our world today and even tomorrow. In her spare time, Laura is exploring what technology has to offer and how it can help her do her job better, much like many of Ladies Learning Code’s beginner-level students. Laura is thrilled to have the opportunity to shape the way a group of 11-14 year olds view technology, and show them that it can be a creative medium for self-expression.
Tiffany Shand (@TASDesigns | http://www.tasdesigns.ca)
Web Designer
Tiffany got involved with an Ontario student summer program called “Summer Company” in 2009, and this is when she started her web design and development company called TAS Designs.
Her technology passion includes editing videos and audio and developing websites and apps.
In April 2010, Tiffany had the honor of being the first female to graduate from the only three year Web Development and Design program offered in Ontario at Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario.
With only 7 students in the class, Tiffany battled it out as the only girl!
Tiffany continues her education by taking classes within design and programming and is also developing her French skills. She awaits acceptance to University in the fall to obtain her Bachelor of Arts in Digital Media.
She is always keeping current with new trends by attending and volunteering at many web and technology workshops and events. She also enjoys the beach, cooking, music and travelling to Jamaica and Cuba.
Tiffany is excited to be a part of the Girls Learning Code summer camp and can’t wait to create a memorable experience for the girls.
Anusha Chohan (@anushac6)
Freelance web developer
Anusha Chohan is a Web Developer in Toronto with a degree in Multimedia from McMaster University and a Certificate in Web Development from Humber College. After completing program at Humber College she worked in corporate organization for one of the big banks in Canada. After various positions in different sizes of firms she eventually moved on to a smaller company as a Web Producer for an online magaize which focused on lifestyle and fashion. She is currently freelancing. Anusha is thrilled to be working with Girls Learning Code as it provides an opportunity for young girls to get invovled in technologly and see how much fun it can be! Knowledge is power and providing girls with the tools will only benefit the tech world and diversify it.
Carla Alexander (@heycarlita | http://www.heycarla.com)
I’m a New Media Specialist at TVOntario. I’m currently working with a team to create an application that will let users download and watch licensed content on their TV. Once that project is done, who knows!
What are you passionate about? “I’m a video game enthusiast and hockey lover. Sadly I don’t have a clever story about how I got into games because I’ve always loved them. Since I’ve completed school (I just graduated from Sheridan’s Interactive Multimedia program) I am working on building some games of my own.”
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 wanted to give back to LLC so… here I am!”
Julie Lycklama
Grade 12 student at Richview Collegiate Institute
Julie currently attends Richview Collegiate Institute and will be starting Grade 12 in September. Her interest in coding started because of her father and brother who both studied Computer Science at University. She started taking Computer Science in Grade 10 and immediately loved it, leading her to study it for the next two years. She is extremely excited to help these young girls start their paths into the world of technology and to get them excited about coding. This is a great opportunity for women to get involved in the industry at an early age and she is thrilled to be a part of it!
Alexandria McLean
Grade 12 student at Richview Collegiate Institute
Alexandria is passionate about music, travelling, watching hockey, media, and enjoys filming and editing her own videos. In grade 10 she was one of only two girls enrolled in her school’s Computer Science class. The class taught her that not only does she enjoy using computer programs, but she enjoys making her own. Computer Science is perfect as it allows her to be both creative and put her problem solving tools to the test. Many of Alexandria’s female friends chose not to take the course because they thought it was considered only for boys. She wanted to get involved with Girls Learning Code to show that anyone can like programming and that there is more to it than just math and science. With technology being all around us, she wants to show others that it’s okay to be a computer geek.
More details about these Girls Learning Code workshops in this blog post!
Thank you to these wonderful mentors! This is going to be fun!
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