Chobani founder arrived in US with no English, later built refugee jobs network
Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder of Chobani, has leveraged his personal experience as an immigrant to build a network that helps refugees find employment. His initiative, Tent, now connects hundreds of companies with refugee job seekers across the globe.
Why it matters
This highlights the role of private sector leadership in addressing humanitarian crises through workforce integration and economic empowerment.
When Hamdi Ulukaya arrived in the United States in 1994, he was a young student from Turkey who spoke no English and knew no one. Years later, after buying a shuttered yogurt factory and building Chobani into a major business, he began hiring refugees and migrants, helping hundreds find work in the company’s plants. That experience inspired Tent, a business network Ulukaya founded in 2016 to encourage employers to hire refugees. The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, says Tent now connects with more than 400 companies across the Americas and Europe. Its work includes training, hiring guides and job fairs designed to help newcomers overcome barriers to employment.
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