PRESS RELEASE: Tent Partnership for Refugees and National Hispanic Corporate Council announce new mentorship initiative to help Hispanic refugees and asylum seekers enter the U.S. workforce 

New York City, October 21, 2022 – Today, on the heels of Hispanic Heritage month, the Tent Partnership for Refugees (Tent) – a global network of more than 300 major companies committed to supporting refugees’ economic integration – and the National Hispanic Corporate Council (NHCC) – a business network that celebrates Hispanic talent’s contributions in corporate America, are announcing a new initiative to provide professional mentorship opportunities for Hispanic refugees in the United States.

More and more people have been forced to flee their homes in Venezuela, Cuba, and other countries in Latin America in recent years, with over 150,000 Hispanic refugees and asylum seekers entering the U.S. in 2021 alone. In addition, earlier this month the Biden administration announced a new humanitarian parole program that could bring up to 24,000 Venezuelan refugees to the U.S. in the coming year. This new mentorship program will aim to accelerate the economic integration of Hispanic refugees in the United States by connecting them with Hispanic employee resource groups at leading companies who can guide them as they look to restart or advance in their careers. 

The program will provide mentees with practical skills and knowledge on topics such as the job search process, drafting an effective resume, and navigating the U.S. workplace, while also helping to build their social and professional networks. Mentors participating in the program will advance their leadership skills and deepen their connection to the Hispanic community in the U.S. 

Gideon Maltz, Executive Director of Tent, said: “We’ve seen time and again how mentorship can accelerate refugees’ professional growth, and we’re thrilled to be launching a program aimed specifically at helping Hispanic refugees better integrate into the U.S. labor market. Hispanic professionals make up a significant portion of the U.S. workforce, and by serving as mentors and leveraging their knowledge and expertise, they’ll be able to help recently arrived refugees and asylum seekers gain critical skills, build their networks, and stay connected to the Latin American diaspora in the U.S.”

“We’re proud to partner with Tent and encourage companies across the country to join this initiative” said Eduardo Arabu, Executive Director of National Hispanic Corporate Council. “At NHCC, we believe this initiative will not only help Spanish-speaking refugees access better job prospects, but it will also serve as a great employee engagement and community relations opportunity for Latino employee resource groups. In addition, this collaboration will help companies further their corporate social responsibility agendas.

This initiative builds on Tent’s global mentorship programming and is one of three new mentorship initiatives in the U.S., including a program to connect U.S. veterans at companies with Afghan refugees (in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes initiative) and an initiative to provide refugee women with professional mentorship opportunities (in partnership with Catalyst).

Companies interested in joining Tent’s new refugee mentorship initiatives should email [email protected]. 

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Media Enquiries
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Eduardo Arabu, Executive Director,  NHCC
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About the Tent Partnership for Refugees
With more and more refugees displaced for longer periods of time, businesses have a critical role to play in helping refugees integrate economically in their new host communities. The Tent Partnership for Refugees mobilizes the global business community to improve the lives and livelihoods of more than 36 million refugees who have been forcibly displaced from their home countries. Founded by Chobani’s founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya in 2016, we are a network of over 300 major companies committed to including refugees. Tent believes that companies can most sustainably support refugees by leveraging their core business operations – by engaging refugees as potential employees, entrepreneurs, and consumers. The full list of Tent members can be found here. Find out more at www.tent.org.

About the National Hispanic Corporate Council
Founded in 1985 as a learning organization for corporate America by corporate America, the National Hispanic Corporate Council (NHCC) is a collaborative community for Fortune 1000 members that provides access to Hispanic talent and consumer resources to optimize corporate performance. 

We offer a unique lens to the U.S. Hispanic talent and consumer market with a population of 62+ million and $2.7 trillion purchasing power. As the leading resource for maximizing the U.S Hispanic market opportunity, NHCC convenes leaders to connect, learn, share, and network around best practices and resources to address corporate priorities.  

Learn more at www.nhcchq.org