This article is sponsored by Square. Read more. »

Most people would agree that 2020 was a tough year. But for anyone who runs a hospitality business, particularly in Victoria, to say it was simply “tough” is an understatement. One person who has intimate experience with these challenges is Hannah Brennan.

Brennan is the CEO of Scarf Community Organisation, a not-for-profit organisation that runs a hospitality trainee and mentorship program for young people who come from refugee and migrant backgrounds. Scarf has cultivated relationships within the Melbourne hospitality industry to run Scarf Dinners, a supper-club style event run in some of the city’s top restaurants. Behind the scenes, it’s breaking down the systemic barriers that stop people from landing their first jobs in Australia. Over the past 10 years, Scarf has seen more than 250 people graduate from the program.

But even when dealing with unforeseen changes to the industry you operate in, there are some things that never change for a business-owner. As anyone who runs a small business knows, having the right tech to support the day-to-day running of a company is crucial, as is having the ability to be agile. Particularly after a year like 2020.

For Hannah, that means utilising products made by Square, which allows Scarf to have a mobile payment and receipt system when taking over restaurants for the pop-up Scarf Dinners, tracking things like spend per head, taking payments for an auction or raffle tickets and keeping track of their fundraising tally — crucial for a social enterprise.

“We’ve also utilised the Square Reader and Square Point of Sale software to take payments during many of our Do More Than Dine fundraising dinners, an annual fundraising dinner hosted by Matt Preston, which runs at Cumulus Inc and includes a live auction,” Brennan explained.

With 2020 firmly in the rearview mirror, Brennan is looking to the future, and on that note, she has some words of wisdom for her fellow business owners. “If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that we can never get too comfortable, we must always be prepared to adapt and change,” she said. “Whether you’re a for-profit or a not-for-profit [business], and the way you approach business should always be grounded in your values.”

Business Insider Australia: Can you please introduce us to your not-for-profit company, Scarf?

Hannah Brennan: Scarf is a not-for-profit social enterprise that runs hospitality training, mentoring and paid work experience programs. For ten years we’ve worked closely with the community sector and the hospitality industry to make employment more equitable for young people facing barriers to work. Scarf trainees are keen, resilient young people seeking protection and those from refugee and migrant backgrounds who’ve been locked out of the job market. Scarf graduates are part of a unique learning community and move on to jobs with new skills, knowledge, networks and tons of confidence.

Since 2010, we’ve partnered with over 100 awesome Melbourne restaurants to transform close to 250 young lives. Scarf Dinners (which are part of our 10-week seasonal training programs) are a positive, supportive environment where participants thrive and gain real-world experience.

During Scarf Dinners, trainees run the front-of-house, with support from hospitality professionals who are volunteering as mentors. There are real, paying customers and it’s a busy dinner service. Trainees are paid award wages for these events, so that Scarf counts as real, local work experience. Diners get to enjoy a great night out, with the restaurant chefs doing the cooking, and the whole front-of-house, from door to bar to floor, staffed by the Scarf team of trainees and mentors. And the trainees gain crucial experience, so important especially as many of them have never worked in Australia, or have never had a job before.

BIAU: Can you tell us how and why you started your non-profit social enterprise Scarf, and talk us through the biggest challenges you’ve faced to date?

HB: I started Scarf in 2010 after working in hospitality for eight years and volunteering with the young refugee community in Fitzroy. Many young people were asking me to help them get jobs. Working in restaurants and events, I knew there were plenty of opportunities, but there seemed to be a barrier to these awesome young people actually getting their first job.

So, with Jess (Scarf’s other co-founder), we started asking favours of friends in the hospitality industry. We managed to borrow a restaurant, got a bunch of hospo professionals to volunteer as trainers and mentors, and had stock donated. Then we went to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and the Brotherhood of St Laurence who referred an initial group of eight young people to Scarf.

We ran a pilot program with a strong focus on hands-on training, supportive mentoring and serving real customers in a real restaurant during weekly “Scarf Dinners”. Three months after graduating, seven out of eight young people had secured jobs. We just sort of kept going and things have developed and adapted over the years.

A big challenge from early on was wrapping my head around the enormous, systemic barriers to employment that exist for people seeking asylum and those from refugee and migrant backgrounds. There is a lot to digest and as a white, privileged person who grew up in Melbourne, I’ve never experienced discrimination or had trouble getting a job. It’s been a steep learning curve and it continues. I learn as much as I can from the young people who come through our programs, and from people who’ve worked with refugees so Scarf can continue to evolve into an organisation that runs culturally-sensitive, genuinely transformative programs through a trauma-aware framework.

On the surface, we’re dealing with the three-plate carry and how to take an order for a customer with allergies, but deeper down, we’re working very hard and purposefully to create an inclusive, supportive community where all participants are empowered.

BIAU: Obviously, a lot changed in 2020 due to the pandemic, and arguably one of the worst-hit industries was hospitality — even more so for businesses based in Melbourne, like yours. How did this impact Scarf?

HB: Obviously COVID has been a huge disruptor and forced us to re-think some of our typical approaches to working, but as the Melbourne hospitality industry rebuilds, we are feeling quietly confident that we can continue having a significant social impact.

Technology has always been a key part of the Scarf operation, but last year forced us to use technology far more than we usually would. Because of the huge impact COVID-19 had on Melbourne hospitality businesses, and with ongoing lockdowns, we couldn’t run face-to-face programs, but we could still continue connecting with the Scarf community. We just had to do things differently.

Running online workshops and utilising our Scarf Trainee/Graduate/Mentor private Facebook group helped us stay in touch and continue providing vital information, training opportunities and job-readiness resources to participants. We [also] ran a Zoom workshop that focussed primarily on wellbeing during the second lockdown; where our team and a handful of Scarf volunteer mentors, graduates and new trainees shared tips on looking after our wellbeing and mental health during that period. As we (somewhat nervously) move back to face-to-face programs for 2021, I feel we are much better prepared if restrictions mean we have to revert to online again.

BIAU: What’s on the horizon for Scarf?

HB: A couple of years ago, we ran a graduate focus group that saw us make significant changes to the way we approached job-readiness and post-program support. These days, our team includes Mir Bugti (Scarf’s Restaurant and Training Manager) who graduated from Scarf in 2016 before carving out an impressive career in hospitality.

We’re making plans to create an ongoing Graduate Advisory Group which will ensure we have plenty of diverse voices in the Scarf Community, bringing ideas, challenging the status quo, and overall helping to ensure that our programs and activities create the best possible outcomes for our participants.

BIAU: How can people support Scarf’s work?

HB: As a not-for-profit business, Scarf always welcomes support from the community and the best way you can do that is by visiting the Scarf website. It’s here that you can read up on the barriers to employment faced by young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds, plus there are also details about the company’s trauma-informed model of training and work experience.

On the website, you’ll also find out how to donate and buy locally-made merch. Undoubtedly, the best way you can show your support is by booking to go to a Scarf Dinner, which will hopefully start again in May 2021. We know there is a need for what we do; there are still countless systemic barriers for people seeking asylum and those from refugee backgrounds, so there needs to be programs and work placement opportunities that provide alternatives to people who are otherwise locked out of the job market.

Follow Business Insider Australia on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.