While Nicole LeBlanc’s main job is finance director at the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, the accountant does not limit herself to counting beans.

LeBlanc’s other duties range from providing financial and business advice to the region’s startups to volunteering on a pilot program that is introducing coding to young children.

Countries such as China and Estonia are making it a priority to teach computer programming to the very young. In Britain, a new initiative means that from next year onward all children will begin studying computer programming at age five.

But Canadian students do not learn how to code until the final years of high school. Canadian kids need to learn coding at a younger age, LeBlanc believes.

“Coding is more than just recruiting future computer programmers,” she says. “It changes the way kids think by building strong problem-solving skills and unleashing creativity.

“They don’t just play or browse, but create, design and build. It allows them to take something from an idea and transform it into a real product.”

LeBlanc has helped organize a pilot project in 10 New Brunswick schools in which students in grades 6 to 9 learn how to code as part of their regular tech classes. The coding pilot began in September and the youngsters are responding well.

The organizers hope that programming will eventually be taught to all grades. Businesses would also benefit, she said, as many companies are experiencing a shortage of programmers.

In preparation, LeBlanc has recently learned how to code, and has led the effort to bring Ladies Learning Code to New Brunswick. (The Toronto non-profit runs computer programming workshops for all adults, not just women.)

“Programming is so useful,” she says. “You don’t know how much you need it until you learn, and then you think, ‘How did I manage without it?’”

The school pilot project is just the latest community-minded volunteer project for the Fredericton resident who is well known for her willingness to offer the region’s entrepreneurs advice and support. LeBlanc believes in paying it forward, a philosophy she credits on her “ordinary” and “lucky” Atlantic Canadian upbringing.

“I’m from a small town — St. George, N.B. — and if you wanted something done, you did it yourself.”

Socializing and volunteering also come naturally to her.

“I’m just one of those people who love everything, I can’t even choose a favourite colour,” said LeBlanc, who has worked in literacy promotion and been a soccer coach and club volunteer since the early 1990s when she founded a club in her hometown.

As the Innovation Fund’s director of finance, LeBlanc focuses on providing companies with the financial support they need. She played a similar role for Halifax’s First Angel Network where she worked part time for 18 months while her artist-designer husband, Philip LeBlanc, studied at NSCAD University.

While working for the Angel Network, she also worked independently with fledgling companies as a consultant. It was the first time she’d helped entrepreneurs with their management issues and she enjoyed the entrepreneurs’ vision and optimism.

In fact, she enjoyed it so much she often helped startups for free.

“If they could pay me eventually, that was great. I just wanted to help. I help entrepreneurs however I can, with anything from pitches to accounts. It’s fun to be involved. I feel that I’m an entrepreneur and part of their teams.”

Right now, she is also supporting her husband in his own entrepreneurial role. He is trying to establish a Makerspace in Fredericton, where people of many skill sets — from engineers to artists — can get together in a community workshop.

The Makerspace movement began in Germany in the early 2000s and is spreading around the world. Halifax, for instance, has recently seen a Makerspace open on Barrington Street.

LeBlanc believes the future is bright for the region’s entrepreneurs, in part because of Atlantic Canadians’ belief in community.

“From a startup perspective, this region is vibrant,” she says. “People are willing to share their knowledge and expertise. They are very helpful with mentoring.

“The pay-it-forward attitude is key. I think building community is relatively easy here. And it really is regional, the inter-provincial barriers are coming down.”

[Disclosure: New Brunswick Innovation Foundation is a sponsor of Entrevestor.]