Melissa Sariffodeen
Co-Founder (former CEO, exited 2025) · Canada Learning Code
Melissa Sariffodeen co-founded Canada Learning Code, in 2011 as Toronto meetup called Ladies Learning Code and went on to expand its offerings across the country and teach over a million people.
Worth knowing
She has done the whole arc of a Canadian company: starting one from nothing, scaling programs into every province and territory, and closing it out through a merger. She knows what it takes to get digital skills programming into small communities, not just big cities.
Story
Melissa finished her HBA at Ivey and joined three others, Heather Payne, Laura Plant and Breanna Hughes, to start Ladies Learning Code the following year. Girls Learning Code came in early 2012, then HackerYou, a Toronto programming bootcamp. As Co-Executive Director and later CEO, she turned the workshops into Canada Learning Code, a national organization with 45 chapters across Canada. She led it for eleven years. In September 2025 she stepped down as the organization merged with Ampere, formerly the Pinnguaq Association.
Canadian story
Melissa was born and raised in London, Ontario though her work has taken her to every province and territory in Canada, visiting more than 100 cities and towns along the way as she built Canada Learning Code.
Highlights
- Co-founder, Ladies Learning Code (2011), Girls Learning Code (2012) and HackerYou
- Co-founder and CEO, Canada Learning Code; taught 1M+ people across Canada
- Winner, 2017 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Social Change Award
- Honoured as a Barbie Role Model for her work in digital literacy
- Governor General Award for Person's Case
- Governor General's Meritorious Service Cross
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