I started the Waterloo Region chapter of Canada Learning Code
Canada Learning Code (previously Ladies Learning Code) is Canada’s largest charity focused on computer science education for all Canadians. All of their programs are open to everyone, with a focus on marketing towards women, children, and other groups who otherwise wouldn’t have the resources or encouragement.
And grew it from 0 to 250 learners per workshop
Similar to a franchise, I had access to resources from HQ like workshop content, and a standardized eventbrite system for ticket sales. The rest is up to each individual chapter lead. Location, marketing, finding instructors, mentors, choosing what to teach, feedback from learners, mentor and instructor appreciation, keeping the community alive, and all event logistics fall onto the individual chapter lead. There had actually been a chapter in Waterloo several years prior to me restarting it, but it had fizzled and died due to lack of interest and lack of attendees. Once I heard about Canada Learning Code, I couldn’t understand how Waterloo Region couldn’t have a successful chapter. We have two universities, a college, Perimeter Institute, and arguably the strongest tech community in Canada, plus an incumbent population of mostly non-tech inclined citizens. After a short call with their CEO where I outlined my plan, I was officially the Chapter Lead for Waterloo Region!
With a strong network of repeat learners and instructors
My plan was two-fold: first, engage the tech community to get instructors, mentors, free venues, and sponsorship. Then, get on literally every newsletter in town and hit every demographic of learner. My first workshop was at a small office and was around 25 people. In total, I ran the chapter for just over 2 years. My favourite moment was of an 8 year old boy’s first time using a computer ever, and almost falling out of his chair with excitement. The last workshop I ran was the 2018 national code day workshop. A big event every year, I was expecting about 100 learners for our intro to AI + ML workshop, Google had offered an event space that could hold everyone, and one of our friendliest instructors from Shopify had offered to teach it. I did sell 100 tickets - almost 2 weeks before the event. Knowing that the majority of ticket donations happen in the last few days before an event, I wasn’t thrilled knowing how many people were going to miss out. With less than 2 weeks to go I found a second venue, instructor, and set of mentors, and managed to get an additional 150 learners into a parallel workshop. I also coordinated a visit from the local PM to our National Code Day, and that MP championed for Canada Learning Code to receive a $9.4M Federal CanCode grant the following year. Shortly after this, my company Penta Medical was accepted into Y Combinator, so I handed off the chapter to 2 of our instructors who still run it today.