Tent Celebrates One-Year Anniversary of the Launch of the LGBTQ Refugees Mentorship Initiative With New Film

In December of 2020, Tent and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation launched a new initiative aimed at providing professional mentorship opportunities to LGBTQ refugees in North America. Through the initiative, major companies – including Chobani, CIBC, Under Armour, Warby Parker, and Hilton – announced pledges to mentor at least 50 LGBTQ refugees each, collectively committing to reach more than 1,250 LGBTQ refugees in cities throughout North America over a period of three years.

To commemorate the one-year anniversary of the initiative’s launch, Tent has created a film, directed by Philippe Tremblay-Berberi, which spotlights the story of two of the mentor/mentee pairs participating in the first-year of the program. 

The film features Glen, a mentor from Chobani based in NYC, and his mentee Juliet, an LGBTQ refugee from Nigeria who is attending school to get her medical assistant certificate, in hopes of finding a job that allows her to support other members of the LGBTQ community. The film also features Thomas, a mentor from CIBC based in Toronto, and his mentee Ravaughn, an LGBTQ refugee from Jamaica who was looking to advance in his career and find a new role in Talent Acquisition.

The message of the film is simple: mentorship matters. For LGBTQ refugees, who have already overcome so much to get to their new host countries, mentors can help them rebuild their social and professional networks, and provide much-needed guidance as they navigate a new job market. And for the mentors in this program, developing these new relationships has been equally rewarding, helping them to feel more engaged at work, and leaving them feeling truly inspired by the LGBTQ refugees they’ve mentored. 

Watch the film to get a glimpse inside the Tent & HRC Foundation’s LGBTQ Refugees Mentorship Initiative, and meet a few of the mentors and mentees who have participated in the program.