March 8th is International Women’s Day and in honour of the day, we would like to highlight some Canadian women that are making a difference in the Canadian tech community and we think you should be following.
This list is not an exhaustive list. There are so many amazing women out there doing fantastic work in technology and advancing the industry across the country. Let us know in the comments who else you would like to see on this list!
Rita Orji
Associate Professor, Dalhousie University
Twitter | LinkedIn
A computer science professor, Orji is also the Canada Research Chair in Persuasive Technology at Dalhousie University. She designs interactive systems and persuasive technologies, particularly to benefit under-served populations.
Tanya Janca
Founder, We Hack Purple
Twitter | LinkedIn
Tanya Janca has dedicated her work to helping others create secure applications. She is a best-selling author of Alice and Bob Learn Application Security and founded We Hack Purple, an online learning academy and weekly podcast that teaches how everyone can create secure software.
Denise Williams
CEO, First Nations Technology Council
Twitter | LinkedIn
Through her role as CEO of the First Nations Technology Council, Williams is working to ensure that Indigenous peoples have the tools, education and support to thrive in the digital age.
Huda Idrees
Founder and CEO, DOT Health
Twitter | LinkedIn
DOT Health provides secure and easy access to health records. She is an advocate for building a more equitable world and her work has been featured in the Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, Vogue and many other publications.
Saadia Muzaffar
Founder, TechGirls Canada
Twitter | LinkedIn
Saadia Muzaffar is a tech entrepreneur, author, and passionate advocate of responsible innovation, decent work for everyone, and prosperity of immigrant talent in STEM. With TechGirls Canada, Muzaffar aims to remove barriers for women, including women of color, LGBTQ+ women, refugees, indigenous women, and women of all abilities, looking to have careers in STEM.
Eva Wong
Co-founder and COO, Borrowell
Twitter | LinkedIn
Eva Wong is one half of Borrowell, a fintech company helping people make great decisions about credit to achieve their financial goals. As one of the few women founders of a fintech company, she has helped Borrowell achieve rapid growth and great success while building a diverse and gender-balanced team.
Jill Binder
Founder and Chief Consultant, Diverse In Tech
Twitter | LinkedIn
Jill Binder’s work at Diverse In Tech encourages tech conferences and companies to have more diverse voices on stage and in meetings. Binder is also the Leader of the Diverse Speaker Training group in the WordPress.org Community Team, which encourages individuals from underrepresented groups to speak at WordPress events.
Janelle Hinds
Founder, Helping Hands
Twitter | LinkedIn
Hinds combines her experience in tech with her passion for youth civic engagement to build Helping Hands, a platform to connect youth to meaningful volunteer opportunities while learning valuable skills for their future careers.
Mahsa Kiani
Data Scientist Consultant
Twitter | LinkedIn
Mahsa Kiani is a full stack data scientist with over fifteen years of experience. She is passionate about solving real-world problems using technology in particular data science, AI, and big data. She is also a founding member of MyData, an NGO helping individuals take control over their personal data.
Tamar Huggins Grant
Founder, Tech Spark
Twitter | LinkedIn
Tamara Grant launched Tech Spark after realizing the importance for BIPOC youth to see other people of colour as leaders in the tech industry. Through culturally relevant and equitable tech education, Tech Spark empowers these underrepresented youth and provide them with opportunities to make meaningful contributions to Canada’s tech ecosystem.
Janet Bannister
Managing Partner, Real Ventures
Twitter | LinkedIn
As Managing Partner at Real Ventures, one of Canada’s largest venture capital firms, Bannister works with founders to help them build large, sustainable businesses. She previously launched Kijiji.ca, growing it to be Canada’s largest classified website, and helped transform eBay from a website for collectables to a mainstream marketplace.
Vivian Chan
Chief Channel Officer, Nextech AR Solutions
Twitter | LinkedIn
Over the course of her career, Chan has been involved in the launch monetization, sales, and marketing management for three different waves of disruptive technologies — Analytics, Cloud, and AR/VR. Currently, as Chief Channel Officer at Nextech AR Solutions, she helps to bring people together on their virtual experience platform which combines virtual events with augmented reality.
Lauren Robinson
Executive Director, Female Funders
Twitter | LinkedIn
Through Female Funders, Robinson is demystifying angel investments and empowering female leaders to become investors. She is also a partner at Highline Beta, a startup co-creation company that identifies industry opportunities and helps launch and co-invest in new startups to address those opportunities.
Christine Renaud
CEO, e180
Twitter | LinkedIn
As the head of e180, a social enterprise aimed at transforming education into a self-directed, collaborative and experiential experience, Renaud is changing how people connect and learn. Through their flagship platform, Braindate, conference attendees can have a knowledge sharing conversation on any topic.
Jill Tipping
President and CEO, B.C. Tech
Twitter | LinkedIn
As the President and CEO of B.C. Tech, Jill Tipping is a champion and advocate for the technology industry in B.C. She aims to make the province a place for tech companies to thrive. Her position makes her a pivotal figure in driving the growth and direction of tech industry in B.C in the future.
Melissa Sariffodeen
Co-founder and CEO, Canada Learning Code
Twitter | LinkedIn
Melissa Sariffodeen is an advocate for providing Canadians with the skills, confidence, and opportunities to become builders of technology. Her role as the co-founder and CEO of Canada Learning Code has allowed her to do that. Over the years, the organization has provided over 600,000 Canadians the opportunity to learn computer science concepts.
Who have we missed? Let us know in the comments.