Tent Partnership for Refugees Welcomes New Europe Advisory Council Members

August 29, 2024 – The Tent Partnership for Refugees (Tent) – a network of more than 400 major companies committed to helping refugees in Europe and the Americas access local labor markets – is pleased to announce three new members joining its Europe Advisory Council.

Tent’s Europe Advisory Council, chaired by former French education minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, was established in 2023 and brings together distinguished leaders from the worlds of business, politics, and media to further Tent’s mission of mobilizing companies across the continent to connect refugees to work. 

The newest members of Tent’s Europe Advisory Council all currently serve as senior executives at Tent member companies and will be instrumental in helping Tent strengthen its position and impact in Europe. They are: 

• Ana Paula Carvalho, Western Europe Cluster President at Pfizer and Former Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council in Europe (DEICE)
• Frank Hensgens, Managing Director DACH (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) at Indeed
• Christopher Ratsch, Member of the Executive Board at Mast-Jägermeister SE

There are more than 8 million refugees residing in Europe today, with numbers continuing to grow as war continues to rage in Ukraine and crises in regions such as West Africa force more people to flee their homes. With more refugees seeking work in Europe – but facing barriers such as low language proficiency and lack of professional networks – Tent has ramped up its operations in the region, launching four country coalitions in France, Germany, Spain, and the UK in the past year, and continuing to expand its work in the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden. 

The expansion of Tent’s Europe Advisory Council will continue to strengthen Tent’s growth in the region. Frank Hensgens and Christopher Ratsch bring in-depth knowledge of the German market – the third largest refugee-hosting country in the world, and where half a million refugees are unemployed despite 1.6 million vacant jobs across critical sectors. Ana Paula Carvalho brings a key pan-European perspective, from a company that has been at the forefront of refugee hiring for many years. 

“Speeding up the labor market integration of refugees is an obvious part of the solution to the demographic challenges and labor shortages in key sectors of Europe’s economy, such as hospitality, manufacturing, and retail, ” said Gideon Maltz, CEO of the Tent Partnership for Refugees. “We are very fortunate to benefit from the expertise, ideas, and guidance of our Europe Advisory Council and are incredibly grateful to Ana Paula, Frank, and Christopher for joining this distinguished group of leaders committed to helping Tent further expand our work in the region.” 

“The members of the Europe Advisory Council represent a diversity of professions, sectors, and geographies who work together to support Tent so that more refugees can be connected to jobs,” said Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, Chair of Tent’s Europe Advisory Council. “We are thrilled to welcome Ana Paula, Frank, and Christopher, who will bring their distinct expertise and experience to advance this vital mission.”

For more information about Tent’s Europe Advisory Council click here.

About the Tent Partnership for Refugees

With more and more refugees displaced around the world, businesses have a critical role to play in helping them integrate economically in their new communities. Tent was launched in 2016 by Hamdi Ulukaya, the CEO and founder of Chobani – a multibillion dollar food company in the U.S. – to mobilize the world’s largest employers to fill this gap. Today, Tent is a network of over 400 major companies committed to helping refugees across a dozen countries in the Americas and Europe access local labor markets by helping them become job-ready and connecting them to work. Find out more at www.tent.org.