“For as long as I remember, I’ve noticed how numbers quietly dictate what the world pays attention to,” says fourth year Data Science student and 2025 Co-op Student of the Year, Sadia Tasnim.

Long before entering York’s Data Science program, she marveled at the figures she saw in news headlines. She reflected not just on the response they generated, but about the hidden work behind them - who collected them, how they shaped decisions, and how they drove outcomes.

As an international student from Bangladesh, Sadia has always felt a desire to champion access and drive positive change. In high school, she co-founded a non-profit to improve air quality in her home city Dhaka.When she decided to pursue co-operative education as part of her undergraduate degree at York University, she might have taken her computational skills to a job at a large tech company, financial institution or consulting firm. Instead, Sadia’s work term took her to an unexpected place: a local food bank.  

Working first in Agency Relations and then as a Data Administrator, she joined Food Banks Mississauga as a co‑op student on a growing data team. Sadia found a space where her talents at interpreting and presenting data aligned with her desire for community impact.

Among four student hires, she was one of two selected to co‑lead data collection for a significant organizational initiative: the Annual Visitor Survey. She led a team of 20 volunteers responsible for collecting data from food bank clients, assessing service satisfaction, and gathering anonymous demographic information to help the organization better understand its community and exceeding its collection target. 

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"Co-op gave me more than technical skills; it gave me clarity, momentum and a sense of purpose."

One of her biggest contributions came as the result of an unexpected challenge. During her work term, she faced the sudden departure of her direct supervisor. Sadia rose to the challenge to help her team ensure their project was completed on time. She helped compile and analyze the data to produce an exceptionally detailed report that her Director described as “the first of its kind” for the organization.

To aid her report-writing, Sadia took the initiative to attend external workshops hosted by nonprofits to understand how data can be communicated most effectively. By the end of her co-op term, she had completed nine reports, including a comprehensive organizational analysis and presented her findings at a board meeting.

For Sadia, the most rewarding part was knowing she had contributed to key food‑security insights that may guide future programs and resource allocation.

"Looking back, this year was one of the most meaningful of my life," she shares. "I immersed myself in work I genuinely cared about while gaining a deeper understanding of both the data industry and how to navigate co-op opportunities."