Ryan Grant Little on CanadaHelps, Ukraine Aid, and Invest in Bravery
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Vocal.Media
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/05/24
Photo by Robert Anasch on Unsplash
Ryan Grant Little is a Canadian social entrepreneur, impact investor, and humanitarian organizer. He co-founded CanadaHelps in 2000 with Aaron Pereira and Matthew Choi, helping build one of Canada’s best-known online giving platforms. He later worked in climate tech and venture investing, including at Vireo Ventures, and is now active in Ukraine through Roxolani Trust and Invest in Bravery. Based in Kyiv, he combines humanitarian logistics, ecosystem-building, and investor connections focused on resilience and reconstruction there..
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Ryan Grant Little about co-founding CanadaHelps, entering philanthropy through early e-commerce, and redirecting his work toward Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Little discusses the Roxolani Trust, refugee transport, military and medical aid, donor trust, and the informal relationship-based systems that move support to the front. The conversation also explores Invest in Bravery, defence-tech investment, wartime work culture in Kyiv, and Ukraine’s long-term reconstruction potential during an ongoing war.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So you were a co-founder of CanadaHelps. [Ed. CanadaHelps was founded in 2000 by Ryan Little, Aaron Pereira, and Matthew Choi. By 2025, it has helped process more than $4 billion in donations.] How did that happen? That is remarkable.
Ryan Grant Little: It is interesting because few people outside Canada have heard of it. It is a distinctly Canadian organization. I had an e-commerce company as a teenager, and a classmate a few years ahead of me reached out and said, “We are both in tech, would you like to discuss an idea?”
We met on my 19th birthday, talked it through, and I agreed. We started and built it. I ran it for the first few years and then handed it over to professionals.
Jacobsen: Why did you get into philanthropy, particularly from a technological and entrepreneurial perspective?
Little: I did not consciously choose philanthropy. I have always focused on pressing problems that I could help solve. At the time, e-commerce was emerging, eBay and similar platforms were just getting started. I realized that charitable giving was especially well-suited to online transactions because no physical product needed to be shipped.
We pioneered digital charitable receipts. Charities across the country were trying to move online but were often overcharged for large setup fees and high transaction costs.
It made sense to create a single shared engine, structured as a charity serving the charitable sector. In retrospect, we were also building powerful online payment systems from scratch. Had I recognized that earlier, I might have pursued that direction instead of going to business school.
Jacobsen: Do you have any Ukrainian background?
Little: No. I have no connection to Ukraine. When the full-scale invasion began, I thought about Ukrainians I knew, mostly developers I had worked with, and contacted them to understand how I could help.
Jacobsen: When you learned about February 24, 2022, was it a wake-up call?
Little: Yes and no. I expected it. The key signal for me was the report that Russia had moved blood supplies to the front, which is widely regarded as an indicator of possible military action.
I did not know the timing or form, but I believed something was coming. It was not a wake-up call so much as a trigger for action. I realized that I could not remain a bystander.
Jacobsen: What does “Roxolani” mean?
Little: The Roxolani were a Sarmatian nomadic people associated with the Pontic steppe in antiquity, including areas north of the Black Sea. It would be more accurate to say they were linked to the broader region of present-day Ukraine, rather than that they were “defending Ukraine” in the modern sense.
The name also evokes Roxelana, Hürrem Sultan, an Ottoman consort traditionally associated with Rohatyn, in what is now Ukraine. Many organizations use names such as “Help Ukraine” or “Support Ukraine.” I wanted something more distinctive.
Jacobsen: What was the exact moment you founded RoxolaniTrust, first conceptually and then legally?
Little: It began in the first few days of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. The formalization came later, after I moved to Ukraine and established it as a registered foundation.
Initially, I was operating informally, using my own bank account and contributions from friends and family, who became my core supporters. I did whatever I could in those early days, including helping to seed-fund other emerging organizations. It was essentially volunteer work, coordinated through personal resources.
I relocated full-time to Ukraine on April 1, 2025. At that point, I formally created the foundation as a Ukrainian entity supporting the military. It was important to be based in Ukraine, where supporting the military is legally and logistically clearer than operating from abroad.
Jacobsen: How does aid delivery and coordination function in a war?
Little: Much of it operates through informal networks, group chats, direct contacts, and trusted relationships. Early on, there were attempts to build software platforms that matched needs to available resources. These worked well in theory but less effectively in practice.
In reality, coordination depends on trust, knowing who will ensure that supplies reach the right destination and are used properly. I function as an intermediary. Someone might say, “I have 100 computers, what can you do with them?” Through my network, I can match those resources with verified needs at the last mile.
Even now, years into the invasion, much of the system remains analog and relationship-based.
Jacobsen: What kinds of military supplies are you providing?
Little: The primary focus has been on vehicles. We have delivered about 30 so far, typically older diesel vehicles with high mileage, often in poor cosmetic condition. These are less desirable in civilian markets, but well-suited for military use.
We also supply medical support, including medicines for both civilian and military hospitals, tactical medical items such as tourniquets, and rehabilitation equipment for wounded soldiers.
Energy support is another major area, generators, portable power stations, and backup systems, which are critical for frontline operations.
Each winter, I run a campaign to provide cold-weather gear: thermal balaclavas, socks, hand warmers, heaters, and stoves.
Currently, we are supplying drone detectors to frontline defenders, volunteers, and emergency responders. These devices save lives daily. At approximately €500 each, they are often unaffordable for individual soldiers, so we distribute them in volume.
We also source materials such as fishing nets from countries like Sweden and Ireland. These are repurposed for camouflage, protection of artillery positions, and anti-drone corridors used in both civilian and military contexts.
Jacobsen: How have you supported and transported refugees?
Little: That work was concentrated in the first three months of the full-scale invasion. My first direct involvement came during the first week, when I delivered equipment to the Polish-Ukrainian border.
I asked where I could help transport refugees and was directed to a major coordination point near Przemyśl in Poland, where many volunteer efforts were organized. I made a simple sign indicating “Vienna” and walked through the area until a mother and daughter approached me. That was how it began.
They did not speak English. I did not speak Ukrainian or Russian. We arranged a conference call with a friend of mine who spoke Ukrainian. He explained who I was and reassured them that I could be trusted. It was a tense situation.
They decided to get into the car with me. We drove to Vienna. They stayed with me for about a month. With the help of another volunteer, I found them an apartment there.
At that point, a loose network formed in Vienna. Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking volunteers monitored social media and converted requests for evacuation into structured information, essentially informal “support tickets.” These included details such as: a mother with two children, a cat and a dog, at a specific border crossing, needing transport to Vienna, Salzburg, or elsewhere.
I began responding to these requests, primarily driving people from the border. Over time, I expanded my involvement. I arranged buses, covered hotel stays when necessary, and coordinated logistics.
I also adapted my own vehicle, a Volkswagen Passat, by folding down the seats and installing an air mattress to transport individuals who were injured or unable to travel by bus. For others, I funded and organized bus transport, often in coordination with the Vienna Mission for Ukraine, an organization I supported early on and that continues to assist refugees in Austria.
Jacobsen: How do you raise hundreds of thousands of dollars? That is an underrated and difficult skill.
Little: I have been fortunate to rely on a network of friends, family, and extended contacts in Canada, many of whom I know through business and academic circles. They tend to be able to make larger donations, which makes a significant difference.
Early on, people advised me to scale the operation. I chose instead to remain close to the impact, to travel regularly toward the front lines, to drive vehicles myself, and to maintain direct involvement. That allows me to speak concretely about where resources go and what they achieve.
Many donors have become skeptical of large organizations. They do not always see how funds are used or whether they reach the front lines. Throughout the full-scale invasion, a noticeable divide has emerged between large institutional actors and smaller volunteer-led efforts.
Supporters have told me they prefer to contribute to individuals and networks they know and trust, people who are directly engaged in the work, rather than to large bureaucratic structures where the impact is less visible.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Ryan.
Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.
In-Sight Publishing 