Learning about social enterprise: Experience with the Mummers Festival
Kaitlyn Warren of CBS, graduated Queen Elizabeth High School in 2016 and began her education at Memorial University that September with a declaration in the Bachelor of Science program. Warren later changed her direction and declared Term A/B of the Business program. During her first semester in Business, Warren, who had previous experience working for a non-profit organization in the past, applied for a work placement with the Mummers Festival and soon after began her new experience with this non-profit organization from October to November, 2017.
Mummers Festival
Many social enterprises are in fact non-profit run businesses or non-profits which generate earned income from business activity. Social Enterprises have a role in preserving heritage and traditions such as the Mummers Festival. The Mummers Festival is a participant-focused, non-profit, community-based festival that celebrates mummering traditions by hosting events in the month of December every year. The festival encourages the celebration, free-expression and the reinvention of arts, performance and craft. The festival holds a series of public events which leads up to the main event – Mummers Parade.
All of the events designed for the Mummers Festival are meant to equip the public with the skills and knowledge about mummering traditions. Participants have opportunities to build a jaw-snapping hobby horse or learn how to play the ugly stick that they crafted. The audience at the parade can meet mummer experts and learn all about the details of this tradition. One of the most important elements of this tradition is the social bonding. Mummering is a big part of Newfoundland culture and helps create a sense of community. The Mummers Festival is helping keep cultural identity alive and strong.
During the part-time student position, Kaitlyn was working to help maintain the current operations of the Mummers Festival and helped update and innovate their business practices. She was given many tasks such as developing website content, and worked alongside many volunteers. This part-time placement was important to the organization as it helped identify new opportunities and develop new partnerships with the help of a student perspective.
“During this experience, I got to see the way that organizations like the Mummers Festival impact the community by offering a learning experience that’s fun and interactive and appreciated by a lot of people” – Kaitlyn Warren
Interview
Q: What inspired you to apply for the part-time work placement with the Mummers Festival?
A: I had a really great experience with another non-profit over the summer, so when I saw the poster looking to hire students for non-profit placements, I thought it would be a good fit. I didn’t have the Mummers Festival specifically in mind at first, but I ended up there, and learned a lot and had a really great time so it was a happy accident I guess.
Q. Can you compare your knowledge of social enterprise before and after the placement? What have you learned?
A: I had never really heard of the term ‘social enterprise’ before being introduced to the Centre for Social Enterprise through the work program. During this experience, I got to see the way that organizations like the Mummers Festival impact the community by offering a learning experience that’s fun and interactive and appreciated by a lot of people. Social enterprises just treat everyone the same way, no matter your financial background, or interests, ethnicity, age, anyone is welcome and everyone is there to learn and have fun and that’s what’s so great about the atmosphere of these events.
Q: What professional/personal growth did you receive by working at a social enterprise?
A: A lot of the work I did was computer work - making spreadsheets and documents, updating websites and sign-ups, and sending emails. I also worked with lots of volunteers. That was my favorite part. Every opportunity to work with people is an opportunity to learn about motivation, and offers an opportunity to practice essential workplace skills that are certainly important in the world of business.
Q: What was the biggest thing you took away from this experience?
A: My favorite thing about this experience was learning about Newfoundland culture and history. By the end of my placement, I was answering all kinds of questions about Newfoundland traditions and the Mummers Festival organization and it was exciting to have this whole new subject of interest.
Q: Do you think this experience has impacted your future career path?
A: I think at this stage of my career, as a student, every work experience offers a new set of skills and experiences. This placement has helped me grow existing skills, and given me a learning experience in stepping outside of my comfort zone which is a skill that I will definitely need later in my career.