Noela Costa Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship was created in honour of our dear friend and colleague Noela Costa (1977-2019) who passed away suddenly in 2019.
Noela was loved and cherished by many people including her parents, Henriqueta Costa and Antonio Costa; her sibling Daniel Costa (Natasha); her nieces Sofia and Ava and so many friends and colleagues. Noela loved to travel and see the world. She was a free spirit and adventurous. In her short life, she lived it to the fullest and inspired many. We wanted to honour her memory by creating a scholarship that would benefit future advertising professionals in the years to come.
Noela first attended the University of Guelph and obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree, graduating with Honours with a Major in European Studies (Business Administration Emphasis). She then attended Humber College in the Post-Graduate International Marketing program, once again earning her place on the Honour roll.
She started her career at Kraft Canada as a Marketing Assistant on Nabisco and joined the agency world in March 2004. She spent the next decade at OgilvyAction, first in Toronto as an Account Supervisor (where she was the recipient of the Ogilvy Award of Excellence) and in 2009 moved to their Montreal office as an Account Director (where she successfully completed Ogilvy’s Rising Stars Leadership Program) and worked on a wide portfolio of clients including top CPG companies and some of Canada’s leading brands.
Noela joined Arrivals + Departures (then Extreme Group) in October 2014, moving out to our Halifax office to manage our largest client (BellAliant). In late 2015 Noela relocated to our Toronto office to again manage our largest client (goeasy Ltd) as Group Account Director. At that time she was able to apply all her experience gained up until that point in building out a team, leading, mentoring and inspiring them and becoming an absolutely integral part to both our agency and the goeasy team. She established incredibly strong bonds due to her loyalty, dedication, passion and persistence. She always went the extra mile and did it with a calm demeanor and a witty, unique sense of humour.
When applying for the role at Arrivals + Departures, Noela described herself in her cover letter as “A reasonable person who tends to remain calm under pressure and go with the flow. A committed individual who takes psychological ownership of all that I do. Methodical and thoughtful, I love to be busy, hate wasting time, and am generally known for doing more than expected. I love to laugh and the only thing that really frustrates me is a bad attitude.”
Noela was a true professional who believed in the value of meaningful client relationships, so it is only fitting that the Noela Costa Memorial Scholarship will be presented to a student in the Advertising – Account Management (Graduate Certificate) program within the Faculty of Media and Creative Arts. The student selected will be the one who best exhibits the spirit and traits that made Noela such a special person to those who were fortunate enough to spend time with her. We know this will allow her story to be told and her legacy to continue for many years through the successes of the recipients.
- submitted by Arrivals + Departures
