Laurier Business Administration student Sophie Ziomecki honoured with Co-op Student of the Year Award

March 30, 2022

Wilfrid Laurier University has awarded fourth-year Business Administration student Sophie Ziomecki (BBA ’21) its 2021 Co-op Student of the Year Award for workplace achievements while completing a work term at American Express in Toronto.

The annual award program recognizes deserving co-op students based on achievements during their work term, with nominations submitted by co-op employer partners. Ziomecki is one of 10 outstanding students nominated for the 2021 award. Laurier extends honourable mentions to Health Sciences student Penny Liu, who completed a work term with Laurier Health Sciences Associate Professor Ketan Shankardass, and Financial Mathematics student Murray Perryman, who completed a work term at TaylorMade Canada.

“Laurier’s Co-op Student of the Year Award is an excellent opportunity to recognize our students and their continued resilience throughout the pandemic,” says Jan Basso, Laurier’s assistant vice-president of experiential learning and career development. “The outstanding nominations we receive each year epitomize the dedication and innovation Laurier students bring to employers.” 

Ziomecki worked as a member of the consumer card product management team at American Express during the winter 2021 term. During her internship, Ziomecki co-led a new bonus offer program for a group of consumer cardmembers, with work including creative agency briefings, stakeholder reviews, approvals and execution. She also contributed to e-newsletters for cardmembers, created content, consolidated stakeholder feedback and reviewed analytics to refine campaign targets.

“Sophie’s contributions to our team’s success continued well beyond her internship with us,” says Jessica Brown (BBA ’07), senior manager: early engagement and spend enablement with American Express. “She took leadership of the cardmember bonus offer, which was an important pillar in our engagement and retention strategy for the year. Sophie’s diligence and hard work during a period of compressed timelines led to us being in market on time and within budget.”

Participating in Laurier’s co-op program allowed Ziomecki to work in three roles related to her studies in Business Administration. In addition to American Express, Ziomecki completed co-op work terms with Canadian Tire Corporation in product merchandising and Loblaw Digital in the internal strategy group.

“I am very honoured to be chosen to receive Laurier’s Co-op Student of the Year Award,” says Ziomecki. “Being in co-op provided me with a variety of work experiences and helped me identify how I want to start my career. Laurier’s co-op program accelerated my professional development far beyond what I could have expected and allowed me to gain meaningful work experience to understand my strengths and interests before beginning my career full time.”

Ziomecki graduated from Laurier in October 2021 and began working full-time at American Express as assistant marketing manager for lending capabilities, where she is managing the development of a new proprietary system.

ABOUT CO-OPERATIVE EDUCATION AT LAURIER 

Laurier supports the largest business degree co-op program in Canada and has more than 2,800 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in arts, business, economics and science co-op programs. Employers and students interested in learning more about Laurier’s co-op programs can contact Laurie Lahn, associate director: co-operative education and external relations, at llahn@wlu.ca.