As Red Canari’s first-ever co-op student, Ingrid Kaffka made an impression on the startup cybersecurity organization.
For her outstanding work as a marketing associate in Spring 2021, Kaffka — a major in English Rhetoric, Media and Professional Communication — is Co-op Student of the Year in the Faculty of Arts.
While working remotely, Kaffka played the lead role in securing funding from the Government of Canada to support the company’s entry into the United Kingdom market. As part of the project, Kaffka performed high-level market research about the cybersecurity industry in the UK and created a 20-page proposal to help the company secure a $30,000 grant for the expansion.
Some of Kaffka’s other major responsibilities included managing Red Canari’s social media platforms. She showed initiative by using Canva to develop compelling social media graphics. The organization’s social media presence increased by 388 per cent in the first month of her term.
“I think one of the things that I did the most was just take initiative and really just became a leader in my role,” says Kaffka, adding that she enjoyed the level of autonomy given by her supervisor.
Kaffka developed case studies, brochures, website landing page copy and infographics for six different industries and ten different services. She was also responsible for conducting extensive research for the company to hire a third-party vendor to recreate the Red Canari’s website.
Kaffka is currently working as a policy analyst at Environment and Climate Change Canada. She encourages Arts students to try distinct roles and various kinds of positions— even those they don’t have much experience in.
This story is adapted from the full announcement, Six women recognized as 2021 University of Waterloo Co-op Students of the Year.