Tent Foundation

Tent is the personal foundation of Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder and CEO of Chobani Yogurt. Established in 2015 and headquartered in New York City,^[1] the organization works to improve the lives and livelihoods of the 65^[2] million people around the world who have been forcibly displaced. Tent invests in innovations and in promoting policies and partnerships to help displaced persons. It encourages the businesses to utilize the dynamism, resources, and entrepreneurial spirit of the private sector to play a more active role in addressing the crisis, and urges them to find ways of supporting governments, NGOs and the refugees themselves.^[3]

History

In 2015, Chobani’s CEO and founder, Hamdi Ulukaya, signed the Giving Pledge, committing to give the majority of his personal wealth to help the displacement and end the global refugee crisis.^[4] He founded Tent, his own personal foundation, for this purpose. The organization champions new and innovative approaches to help solve the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II.^[5][6]

Tent Alliance

Under the auspices of Tent, its Tent Alliance is a coalition of businesses that have committed to supporting NGOs, the public sector, and taking individual action to make a difference in the refugee crisis. Tent argues that in partnership with humanitarian organizations and governments across the world, the private sector is uniquely positioned to make a lasting and sustainable impact on the lives of displaced people everywhere.

The Tent Alliance was launched in 2016 at the World Economic Forum in Davos to leverage the dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit of the businesses to work with one another, and the public sector, to help the millions displaced around the world in new and effective ways. The inaugural members of the Tent Alliance included Airbnb, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Chobani, Henry Schein, the Ikea Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, LinkedIn, MasterCard, Pearson, UPS, and Western Union.^[1] In the time since, this group of businesses has grown to more than 30, which now includes companies such as Salesforce, Deloitte, and Cisco.^[7]

The Tent Alliance members commit to supporting the refugees by direct donation of goods and services; directly hiring refugees or supporting their employment training or employment assistance; and shaping supply chains to source products and services from businesses that hire refugees or support organizations that help refugees.^[8] Tent Challenge

In an effort to spur innovation and encourage scalable solutions, the Tent Challenge aims to fund groups on the front lines of the crisis and those who are working to inform policy and improved public understanding of refugees. Through its Tent Challenge grants, the organization funds groups and individuals who are helping refugees in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and elsewhere.^[9]

Tent Tracker

In November 2015 and January 2016, Tent conducted extensive public opinion surveys to assess the perceptions of refugees by the general public in 11 different countries. The goal of this qualitative research was not only to understand their opinions about refugees as the broader crisis, but also to identify effective messaging to be utilized to shift public opinion toward supporting refugees.^[10]

Economic Research

In May 2016, Tent commissioned a new study with Philippe Legrain, the founder of the Open Political Economy Network (OPEN) that outlines the argument that accepting refugees in the workforce can lead to significant economic growth, increased productivity and wages, and new jobs. More specifically, the study showed how investing one dollar or euro in welcoming refugees can yield nearly two in economic benefits for countries with advanced economies within five years. The report also demonstrated the many reasons why accepting refugees and allowing them to fully participate in the workforce will have lasting economic benefits to host countries.^[11][12]

Further reading

• Refugees Work: A Humanitarian Investment that Yields Economic Dividends^[12]
• Forbes: Finance As An Instrument Of Hope: Investing In Refugees ^[13]
• The Washington Post: Why refugees should be seen as an investment, not a burden ^[14]
• The Guardian: Refugees will repay EU spending almost twice over in five years - report^[15]
• Newsweek: Refugees Bring Economic Benefits - report^[16]

References