Three words that best describe her
Entrepreneur, leader, big thinker
What's her life's work?
The co-founder and CEO of the national charity Canada Learning Code is dedicated to ensuring Canadians — especially underrepresented groups — have critical skills, confidence and opportunities to become passionate builders of technology.
Melissa Sariffodeen has been awarded the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case (honouring Canadians who advance gender equality) and named the RBC Entrepreneur of the Year, among other accolades.
Aside from her day job, the Children Believe director is a council member for two federal initiatives aimed at helping people in Canada access future skills. She’s also an advisor for Women and Color, a digital non-profit.
What academic work set her up for success?
Melissa holds an honours business administration degree from the Ivey Business School at Western University in London, Ont., and a Master’s in Education Policy from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
Interesting tidbit
At 11, Melissa taught herself how to build websites from scratch using HTML. She’s been coding ever since.
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