St. Scholastica’s Academy (SSA) Pampanga conferred the Scholastican Excellence Award in Professional Practice to Laus Group of Companies Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lisset Laus-Velasco.
Awarded by Gawad HuSSAy at SSAysay, the recognition is part of the school's 101st alumni homecoming on February 7, 2026 themed “SSA 101: Together as One” attended by thousands of Scholasticans led by the Batch 2001 Silver Jubilarians.
"I think this is the best award I could receive from your elementary and high school, right? It's sort of bittersweet, because there is so much nostalgia. In the late 90s I graduated and now I'm back, and now people recognize the efforts we've done coming out from St. Scholastica’s Academy Pampanga. I'm just so proud," Laus-Velasco said.
"Sometimes growing up, we think that the rules and policies given by schools, and what the sisters and teachers are teaching us, akala natin they are restricting us. What we don't know is they are teaching us values that we will take and take in our life forever. So congratulations Scholasticans. Take in all the learnings and just enjoy the ride. Who knows where you will be decades from now?" she added.
The recognition is the latest on the list of the daughter of the late Laus Group of Companies Founder Levy P. Laus, who shared his advocacies of countryside development and good corporate governance with Laus-Velasco and her siblings.
In 2024, Laus-Velasco was named Most Outstanding Kapampangan for business, an award conferred by the provincial government to Kapampangans who have excelled in their fields and made a difference in the growth and progress of Pampanga.
She was also named one of the 10 leading women entrepreneurs from the Philippines by the Asean Women Entrepreneurs Network in 2023 in Jakarta, Indonesia and in 2022, Ernst & Young named her Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Philippines in 2022, then an honoree and the only woman recipient of the 2021 Salute to Dealer award given by Ford Motor Co. globally, and the only representative in the International Markets Group.