Export Development Canada (EDC) has handed out its 2024 Youth Education scholarships to 27 students across Canada, including four students who reside in Burnaby.
Each awarded scholarship is worth $5,000.
Seven students are selected to receive EDC's Community Leadership Scholarship. Simon Fraser University (SFU) fourth-year student Vanessa Chu Scrimini was one of them.
"EDC’s scholarship provides me the opportunity to financially support my semester abroad in Italy in fall," Chu Scrimini said in a news release announcing the winners.
"I am excited about the professional and personal learnings that will be obtained through this experience that I will be able to bring back to Canada to advance my academics and community leadership through a more well-informed lens of society."
Twenty students, meanwhile, were awarded the International Business Scholarship, with three Burnaby students included.
Fifth-year UBC student Selena Yang, and fourth-year SFU Beedie School of Business students Sebastian Martin Hidalgo Flores and Elisa Sienna Echelli were awarded funding.
"This support is invaluable to help me pursue studies internationally, learn more about international business, and explore opportunities with an international lens," Yang said of receiving the award.
"With this international exposure, I hope to leverage this more holistic understanding to solve global issues".
"The EDC scholarship will help me to pay my tuition fees to continue my progress towards graduation next year and motivate me with all of my additional volunteer involvements," Flores explained.
"Words cannot fully express the honor and happiness that I feel about receiving the EDC scholarship," Echelli stated.
"This award enables me to possible pursue an international co-op, building on my previous exchange experience in France and the Netherlands, and allows me to dedicate more volunteer hours at my university to assist incoming exchange students.
"I understand the challenges and excitement of studying abroad, and I want to help new students navigate this life-changing experience, just as others helped me during my time in France. With this support, I will be able to continue to strive for academic excellence and achieve my community leadership goals. I am deeply grateful for this incredible opportunity and to be awarded a scholarship that represents such an important cause".
The full list of winners is as follows:
2024 Community Leadership Scholarship recipients:
- Aliyanna Gordon, Black Community Leader (Saint Mary's University)
- Cogie Cogan, 2SLGBTQI+ Community Leader (Western University-Huron University)
- Jolie Gan, Indigenous Community Leader (University of Toronto)
- Raissa Amany, DiversAbility Community Leader (University of Ottawa)
- Valentina Guerra Pinilla, Latin+ Community Leader (Brock University)
- Vanessa Chu Scrimini, Future Leader (Simon Fraser University)
- Solomiia Oleksandra Servetnyk, Ukrainian Empowerment (University of Manitoba)
2024 International Business Scholarship recipients:
- Habiba Mohammad, University of Manitoba
- Selena Yang, University of British Columbia
- Kristen McFarlane, Queen's University
- Juliana Totoni, York University
- Elinam Havor-Nutogo, Carleton University
- Ludovic Pelletier, Université de Sherbrooke
- Mohit Bhabak, University of Waterloo
- Gurpartap Singh Thap, University of Waterloo
- Mitchell Chan, Brock University
- Erin Hayley Work, Queen's University
- Dharmil Patel, University of Manitoba
- Martin Glikman, University of Manitoba
- Ellen Moroz, Carleton University
- Sebastian Martin Hidalgo Flores, Simon Fraser University
- Elisa Sienna Echelli, Simon Fraser University
- Ella Jade Ostrikoff-Pereplitz, University of Victoria
- Jordan Lok, Simon Fraser University
- Avleen Kaur, University of Manitoba
- Eloise Gagne, Université de Sherbrooke
- Colin Ryan Bazin, University of Manitoba
“Congratulations to this year’s scholarship recipients, all of whom were selected based on their academic performance, extracurricular achievements and demonstrated leadership within their communities," EDC President and CEO Mairead Lavery said.
"International trade is enriched by having future leaders of diverse backgrounds — which is why EDC will continue to invest in a diverse group of students who will have a significant impact on shaping Canada’s business landscape and economy.”
