On November 20, 2024, Toast was recognized with the Digital Talent Champion Award as part of the 2024 Start Alberta Tech Awards. The Digital Talent Champion Award recognizes a company, program or individual who has demonstrated outstanding commitment and leadership in developing the talent ecosystem, growing the digital talent pool and accelerating innovation and diversification in Alberta.
Co-founded by April Hicke and Marissa McNeelands in 2023, Toast is a membership-based women’s collective that fosters digital talent development among women in Canada’s tech sector. April and Marissa created Toast to help companies and recruitment staff hire more women, but the platform also provides support for women in tech as well.
“We wanted to provide that support for women, as well as support organizations in ensuring that they have gender diversity on their teams,” explains April. “Calgary is the fourth most diverse city in Canada, which is really exciting. I love being able to work with organizations and teams that really understand that diversity brings innovation.”
The platform has attracted a pool of 18,000 candidates, offering them personalized job recommendations, mentorship, career coaching, and upskilling opportunities that help connect women to companies committed to diversity. Toast’s AI-driven recruitment platform has established partnerships with over 110 clients nationwide, including tech giants like Google, Cohere, and PwC.
The Toast community also empowers women to embrace rapid skill development with a membership collective of 1,500 women to foster collaborative relationships with mentorship, career coaching, and networking initiatives. In addition to the membership collective, their weekly workshops cover skills like coding, project management, and leadership for continuous skill development.
Unlike traditional mentorship programs, the Champions Program trains sponsors to take an active role in their mentees’ careers with meaningful introductions, hands-on learning opportunities, and advocacy to help women access real career opportunities.
A key collaboration has been with educational institutions such as Mount Royal University and SAIT, enabling Toast to integrate women graduates into the local tech workforce, directly addressing Alberta’s talent gaps?. Toast’s flagship event, the Women in Tech Summit in Calgary, attracted over 500 women from across Alberta this September, further highlighting the organization’s role in developing local talent.
“This award just goes to show the change is happening, and it’s great to be seen, added Marissa. “In the day-to-day, it doesn’t feel like we’re making big strides, but an award like this really just reaffirms that we’re going in the right direction.”
The Digital Talent Champion Award is sponsored by ProFound Talent. ProFound Talent is a full-service agency providing executive and professional recruitment, career transition, executive and leadership coaching for employers across all industries.
Since 2018, the Start Alberta Tech Awards have recognized individuals and organizations for their contributions to Alberta’s innovation ecosystem and those significantly impacting the province’s tech sector. The Start Alberta Deal Flow Platform is the most comprehensive database on startups and funding in the province, providing real-time data for founders, investors, corporates and government stakeholders. Start Alberta offers insights on the health of the regional innovation economy while showcasing Alberta’s tech and innovation ecosystem to the world.
View the full list of 2024 Tech Award winners.
