Social Enterprise Greenhouse was fortunate to have Josh Reed of Roger Williams University as an intern for fall 2015. Joshua completed a for-credit internship under Emily Mooney, our Metrics and Development Manager. He assisted with the many events that Social Enterprise Greenhouse hosts.
He is majoring in Business Management with a concentration in International Studies as a senior at Roger Williams University, where he is also works as a tour guide and peer mentor. After graduation, he hopes to travel again, inspired by his experiences studying abroad in Florence. In his spare time he enjoys making music, watching documentaries, playing disc golf, and hanging out with friends and family. He is deeply interested in drug education and mental health awareness. He is deeply interested in drug education and mental health awareness and hopes to address this issues as a social entrepreneur.
Here is what he had to say about his internship experience:
Q: How has your perspective on social enterprise changed as a result of your internship?
Previously, I viewed social enterprise as a passing trend fueled by naive entrepreneurs with unrealistic expectations. After witnessing the success of many ventures associated with SEG, its clear to me that the future of commerce will lie in an entrepreneurs innate ability to “do well and do good.”
Q: What did you accomplish during your internship?
My role was essentially to make sure events were run smoothly. Before events, I would often pick up food from Wholefoods, set up the hub space to accommodate attendees, and prepare the food and drinks for the event. I also helped out with marketing and communications by creating and updating event listings in the platform Eventbrite, which we used for ticket sales. At the end of the internship, I compiled data from events in an analytic report, which will be presented to the board here at SEG.
Q: What did you learn during your internship?
My learning objectives for the internship were to develop self-confidence establishing professional relationship and learn about social enterprise and venture development. I worked with a team of inspiring people in the Hub space, and met countless entrepreneurs through networking events. I attended all of the workshop and accelerator sessions I could, and gained a better understanding of the non-profit industry. At the end of the semester, I wrote a final thesis for my seminar class on the impact of social enterprises.
Q: Why was the work you provided important to Social Enterprise Greenhouse?
The efforts I made this semester to host great events and build SEG’s social media presence made a difference for the company. Many attendees at various events have shown interest in membership after I spoke with them about SEG’s resources/programs. The data analytics report I created at the end also is valuable. My recommendations, if proven effective, could help make everyone’s job at SEG a little easier, especially future event and marketing interns.
Q: How has your perspective on Social Enterprise Greenhouse changed as a result of your internship?
At the beginning of the internship, I was intimidated by the close team structure at SEG. After working here for just a couple months, I have made friends among my co-workers. I now believe the most crucial component to an organization’s success is creating a team of passionate, friendly, honest people.
Q: What have you changed your mind about since working in this internship?
I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I’ve also had a passion for mental health awareness and substance education. I now see that their may be a path to merging both my business education and social passions.
Email Josh directly if you want to learn more about her experience and what’s next for her atjreed-lepak645@g.rwu.edu.