Tent Foundation

## Approach Strategy

The Tent Foundation (officially the Tent Partnership for Refugees) represents a fundamentally different model from traditional grantmaking foundations. Founded in 2016 by Hamdi Ulukaya — the Turkish-born founder and CEO of Chobani who signed the Giving Pledge — Tent operates as a corporate mobilization platform rather than a conventional funder. Its core insight, drawn from Ulukaya's experience hiring refugees at Chobani, is that "the minute a refugee gets a job is the minute they stop being a refugee." Rather than funding service delivery organizations, Tent recruits major corporations into a membership network and facilitates their direct engagement in refugee employment through four mechanisms: hiring, training, mentoring, and connecting refugees to work through supply chains. The foundation is headquartered at 200 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012, and operates across 11 countries in the Americas and Europe. Leadership includes Hamdi Ulukaya (President/Board Chair, $0 compensation), Gideon Maltz (CEO/Executive Director, $532K), Scarlet Cronin (VP Americas, $285K), Veronica Rossini (VP Europe, $258K), and Haiwen Lu (VP Global Communications, $244K). The staffed operational model — with $8.47 million in total expenses in 2024 — distinguishes Tent from lean family foundations. With $37.4 million in assets and $10.1 million in 2024 revenue (83% from contributions, primarily from Ulukaya), Tent functions more like an operating nonprofit than a passive endowment. Membership is free, removing financial barriers for companies to join and make hiring commitments. The network has grown to over 500 member companies including Amazon, Hilton, Marriott, Pfizer, Accenture, and Bank of America.

## Funding Patterns

Tent's financial model is distinctive: the vast majority of its $8.56 million in 2024 charitable disbursements fund its own operations (corporate mobilization, research, event programming, mentorship coordination) rather than flowing as grants to external organizations. Traditional grantmaking represents a small fraction of total spending. Over its history, Tent has made 87 total grants, with recent grants trending small and catalytic:

2024: 1 grant of $66,383 to THRU FHU HOLDCO LLC for general support.

2022-2023 grants were focused on specific refugee employment tools and research: Stichting Refugee Talent Hub ($14,702 for mentorship of refugee women in Europe), UNHCR ($12,000 for mentoring refugee women), ACCEM ($11,418 for refugee women mentorship in Europe), Lutheran Immigration Services ($6,667 for a hiring guide for US employers), and ORAM ($6,000 for an employers' guide to mentoring LGBTQ refugees).

Revenue in 2024 totaled $10.1 million, with $8.38 million (83%) from contributions (primarily Ulukaya personal funding), $1.3 million in other income, and $382K in interest/dividends. Assets have grown dramatically from $1,400 at founding in 2015 to $37.4 million in 2024, reflecting Ulukaya's sustained personal commitment to building the organization's endowment and operating capacity.

The foundation's spending is roughly split between Americas initiatives (~$2.5M) and Europe initiatives (~$2.5M), with the remainder covering global communications, research, and administration. Officer compensation totals $1.12 million (13.2% of expenses), reflecting the professional staffing model required to manage relationships with 500+ corporate members across 11 countries.

## Peer Comparison

Tent occupies a unique niche as a corporate mobilization platform for refugee employment, distinct from both traditional refugee service organizations and conventional foundations.

Tent's competitive advantage is its leverage model: rather than delivering services directly (like IRC or HIAS) or providing humanitarian aid (like UNHCR), it multiplies impact by convincing large employers to change their hiring practices. A single Tent Business Summit in 2022 generated commitments to hire 22,725 refugees — a scale of employment impact that would take a traditional refugee service agency years to achieve through direct placement programs. The trade-off is that Tent has less control over outcomes and depends on corporate follow-through on voluntary commitments.

## Recent Activity

Tent's most significant recent milestone was its inclusion on TIME's 100 Most Influential Companies list in 2024/2025, recognizing its impact in mobilizing the private sector for refugee employment. The network has now exceeded 500 member companies across 11 countries. Hamdi Ulukaya was named a National Geographic 33 inaugural member in 2025, further elevating Tent's profile.

Major corporate hiring commitments continue to anchor the organization's impact: Amazon committed to hiring 5,000 refugees over three years in the U.S.; Hilton and Marriott each committed to 1,500 refugees over three years; and Pfizer committed to 500 refugees. The 2022 U.S. Business Summit saw 45 companies announce commitments to hire 22,725 refugees total.

Tent launched the Hispanic Refugee Mentorship Program, engaging employees at companies including Accenture, Bank of America, Hilton, Marriott, and Pfizer as mentors through Hispanic employee resource groups. This builds on existing mentorship programs for refugee women in Europe (with partners including Stichting Refugee Talent Hub, UNHCR, and ACCEM) and LGBTQ+ refugees (with ORAM).

In 2024, Tent also partnered with UNHCR to strengthen refugee employment globally. The 2024 990-PF filing (November 2025) shows continued strong financial health with $37.4M in assets and $10.1M in revenue. Chobani's 2023 acquisition of La Colombe coffee expanded Ulukaya's business portfolio, potentially providing additional corporate resources and refugee hiring opportunities.

The foundation previously launched the Tent Coalition for Afghan Refugees (30+ companies) and has run targeted campaigns for Ukrainian refugees, demonstrating its ability to rapidly mobilize corporate responses to emerging displacement crises.

## Application Tips

The Tent Foundation does not operate a traditional grant application process. Its funding model is primarily operational (running corporate mobilization programs) with small catalytic grants made by invitation only. Here is how different audiences can engage:

1. For corporations seeking to join Tent: Membership is free and open to companies with at least 1,000 employees in one of Tent's 11 operating countries (exceptions may be considered). No hiring commitment is required to join. Companies receive tailored guidance on refugee hiring, best practices, peer learning, partner recommendations, and access to mentorship initiatives. Apply through tent.org or attend a Tent Business Summit.

2. For nonprofits seeking catalytic grants: Tent provides small grants ($2,500-$66,000) to organizations working on refugee employment tools, research, and mentorship programs. These grants are invitation-only and support specific projects aligned with Tent's corporate mobilization strategy — examples include hiring guides for employers (Lutheran Immigration Services), mentorship programs for refugee women (UNHCR, Stichting Refugee Talent Hub), and LGBTQ+ refugee employment guides (ORAM). Organizations should position their work as tools that help Tent's corporate members hire, train, or mentor refugees more effectively.

3. For refugee service organizations: Rather than seeking direct grants from Tent, organizations can benefit most by positioning themselves as implementation partners that help Tent member companies fulfill their refugee hiring commitments. Being recommended by Tent to its 500+ corporate members as a talent pipeline partner can be far more valuable than a small catalytic grant.

4. For researchers: Tent commissions original research on refugee employment, labor market integration, and business case analysis. Research organizations should demonstrate ability to produce employer-facing insights that motivate corporate action on refugee hiring.

5. For individuals/refugees: Tent does not provide direct services to refugees. Refugees seeking employment should connect with Tent's member companies directly or through local resettlement agencies (IRC, HIAS, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service) that may serve as intermediaries to Tent member employers.

6. Key alignment factor: All engagement with Tent should center on the employment-first thesis — "a job is the most important milestone for a refugee to restart their life." Proposals focused on humanitarian aid, housing, legal services, or education without a clear employment outcome pathway are unlikely to resonate with Tent's model.