Education Partnerships
Leadership Development, Service Learning & Entrepreneurship
Memorial University
Memorial University
Memorial Centre for Entrepreneurship - Internships
The Memorial Centre for Entrepreneurship (MCE) inspires and enables aspiring entrepreneurs at MUN, offering entrepreneurial students foundational training, encouragement, guidance, access to funding and connections to create high-growth businesses. The program allows students to spend a semester working full-time on their idea while receiving personalized start-up coaching, peer support, and a bursary. Students enrolled in an Entrepreneurial Work Term attend the MCE workshops, the Evolution program at Genesis, the Y-Combinator Startup School, and the incubator of the Centre for Social Enterprise. This experiential learning experience allows students to advance essential entrepreneurial thinking skills to form future leaders. Fry Family Foundation committed to the provision of funds to support 10 entrepreneurial internships in 2021 which was leveraged by MCE to create 21 internships.
In 2022 MCE is aiming to increase participation for women and non-binary students with two new awards at its annual startup competition which are funded by FFF, The awards also support the Foundation's focus on leadership development in NL. Paul Burt, FFF President stated, "We strive to encourage students to become tomorrow’s great leaders, and entrepreneurship is one avenue through which they can achieve this.” Read more in Unlocking Entrepreneurship - MCE steps up recruitment of women and non-binary students.
In 2022 MCE is aiming to increase participation for women and non-binary students with two new awards at its annual startup competition which are funded by FFF, The awards also support the Foundation's focus on leadership development in NL. Paul Burt, FFF President stated, "We strive to encourage students to become tomorrow’s great leaders, and entrepreneurship is one avenue through which they can achieve this.” Read more in Unlocking Entrepreneurship - MCE steps up recruitment of women and non-binary students.
Genesis Centre - Entrepreneurial Leadership Fund for NL Women & Immigrants
Genesis, the Memorial Centre for Entrepreneurship ,and the Centre for Social Enterprise all have goals of attracting and incubating more female and immigrant entrepreneurs, but systemic barriers exist. Together, with the right resources and programming, they are working to address some of these barriers and ultimately help create a more diverse entrepreneurial ecosystem. Economic recovery can be driven by entrepreneurship - but the inclusion of women and other marginalized groups is necessary. In 2021, Fry Family Foundation made a 5-year commitment to MUN Genesis to support the development and delivery of a Leadership Program for NL Women and Immigrant Entrepreneurs that will result in improved outcomes and reduced barriers for female and immigrant entrepreneurs. Read more in Inside Genesis' Diversity Push - The St. John's startup hub has seen a sharp uptick in the number of women entrepreneurs it serves.
Climate Collective Initiative
In 2021, FFF announced a new partnership with MUN Botanical Gardens and GeoCentre to support a province-wide educational initiative for high-school students. The Climate Collective involves “hands-on” educational programming, with the goal of empowering youth with the knowledge and tools to become Community Leaders in the development and implementation of local and regional Climate Solutions. The approach incorporates opportunities for youth engagement, delivery of experiential education programming in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM), and the development of a network to support the program. This network will include MUN resources as well as stakeholder networks from organizations and industries operating in the climate innovation sector throughout NL. To support the pilot program, FFF provided funding for the purchase and delivery of Climate Innovation “Toolkits” themed around Art & Culture; Oceanography & Marine Biology; Modelling & 3D Printing; Robotics & AI; and Terrestrial Diversity. The long-term strategy is to incorporate the project into MUN’s core programming and support the MUN Botanical Garden’s and Johnson Geo Centre’s regional outreach platform. The Geo Centre and the Botanical Gardens also hosted three MUN Engineering students as part of the Community Service Learning Work Term program to work on the Climate Collective initiative and other projects during the Winter 2021 semester. Learn more about Zachary Bennett, Parishat Tanakoor and Liam Lawlor's Work Term projects here.
Rural Outreach Service Learning Initiative
Based on the success of the Community Service Learning programs with Engineering Work Terms and Centre for Social Enterprise Graduate Student Internships, these programs will be expanded into rural Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2021, the Fry Family Foundation made a 5-year commitment to the provision of funds to support a province-wide project assessment and provision of an additional 9 Service Learning Work Term positions annually dedicated to Rural NL communities. This initiative will result in enhancements to rural communities and residents, greater student awareness of not-for-profit sector and social enterprise model, and potential for greater local economic activity through social enterprise projects. This combined pilot project has seen great collaboration as the Faculty of Engineering and Centre for Social Enterprise prepare for the initial work-terms to commence in winter 2022.
Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science - Community Service Learning Work Terms
|
MUN has found a unique opportunity to not only supply students with an experience that will enable them to grow their skills and expertise as engineers, but also use their skill set to work with underfunded and not-for-profit organizations throughout the community, through an initiative called Community Service Learning (CSL) Work. Rather than take a traditional engineering work term, students now have the opportunity to be paired with a local school, church, community centre, etc. and spend the semester working on various initiatives, helping to improve efficiency and infrastructure and becoming more involved with the community. Commencing in 2019, the Fry Family Foundation made a 4-year commitment to fund approximately 40 CSL Work Terms for MUN Engineering students. Watch a video on the pandemic work term experience of students who worked at Government House to design solutions for greenhouse revitalization and enhanced food security. Learn more about other Work Term projects here.
|
|
Centre for Social Enterprise - Graduate Student Internships
The Centre for Social Enterprise (CSE) is a strategic initiative of MUN, capitalizing on the strong community focus in NL and the commitment of its citizens to social innovation. Whereas traditional entrepreneurship and enterprise development emphasizes the development of technology focused, high-profit potential businesses, the CSE seeks to incubate and strengthen organizations with strong social mandates, and help to ensure their sustainability in a challenging economic environment. A collaboration initially between the Faculty of Business Administration and the School of Social Work, the CSE acts as a catalyst to nurture social entrepreneurs and strengthen social enterprises in the province. FFF made a 4-year commitment, commencing in 2019 to fund 20 Social Enterprise Internships for MUN graduate students. Through these placements, the goal is to develop leadership capacity in students to engage in social entrepreneurship, and create opportunities for students to learn about social enterprises. Learn more about recent Internship Placements here. Read about MUN PhD student Modeline Longjohn's participation in several Graduate Student Internships.
Spotlight on a Past Project with the Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science
Together by Design
When disaster strikes, Darlene Spracklin-Reid brings together a community to rebuild, all while giving students hands-on learning experience and inspiring the next generation of volunteers. Ms. Spracklin-Reid, is the co-founder and director of Together by Design (TBD), a not-for-profit that brings together engineering students and apprentices to work on community service projects. Ms. Spracklin-Reid co-founded the TBD project with John Oates, from Skills Canada and College of the North Atlantic. Their aim was to encourage volunteerism as well as help the people New Orleans. Starting in 2009, this project saw a team of volunteer students from MUN and CNA travel to New Orleans to help rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. Learn more about this past project here.
When disaster strikes, Darlene Spracklin-Reid brings together a community to rebuild, all while giving students hands-on learning experience and inspiring the next generation of volunteers. Ms. Spracklin-Reid, is the co-founder and director of Together by Design (TBD), a not-for-profit that brings together engineering students and apprentices to work on community service projects. Ms. Spracklin-Reid co-founded the TBD project with John Oates, from Skills Canada and College of the North Atlantic. Their aim was to encourage volunteerism as well as help the people New Orleans. Starting in 2009, this project saw a team of volunteer students from MUN and CNA travel to New Orleans to help rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. Learn more about this past project here.