Chobani founder arrived in US with no English, later built refugee jobs network

Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO of Chobani, reacts during the Clinton Global Initiative 2026 Annual Meeting in New York City, US, September 23, 2026. REUTERS/Jeenah MoonWhen Hamdi Ulukaya arrived in the United States in 1994, he was a young student from Turkey who spoke no English and knew no one. Years later, after buying a shuttered yogurt factory and building Chobani into a major business, he began hiring refugees and migrants, helping hundreds find work in the company’s plants. That experience inspired Tent, a business network Ulukaya founded in 2016 to encourage employers to hire refugees. The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, says Tent now connects with more than 400 companies across the Americas and Europe. Its work includes training, hiring guides and job fairs designed to help newcomers overcome barriers to employment. Ulukaya’s own journey, reported by CBS News, helps explain why he sees a first job as a vital step towards belonging.Starting over in a new countryUlukaya arrived in the US at 22, with little money and no English, according to a CBS News profile. He had left Turkey after facing questioning over his writing in support of Kurdish rights. In upstate New York, he spent years studying, working on a dairy farm and learning how to build a life in a place where he had no family or friends.His path into business began with a modest feta cheese company. Then he noticed an advertisement for a shuttered yogurt factory in New Berlin, New York. The plant had once employed about 200 people, but Kraft Foods had closed it. Ulukaya saw more than an old industrial building. He saw a chance to revive a workplace and bring jobs back to a community.He secured financing with support from a regional bank and the Small Business Administration, then reopened the factory as Chobani. His first hires included former employees of the closed plant. As the business grew, the company needed more workers, more milk from local dairy farms and additional production capacity.Hiring beyond language barriersChobani’s expansion brought Ulukaya into contact with a refugee resettlement centre in Utica, about 40 miles from the New Berlin factory. Staff told him that refugees were struggling to find work, in part because of language and transportation barriers. His response was practical: Chobani would provide interpreters and transport so people could get to the plant and do the job.The company went on to hire hundreds of refugees and migrants. UNHCR says Chobani has also offered English-language classes and access to translators who speak multiple languages. Those measures helped workers settle into a new workplace while allowing the company to draw on a wider pool of employees.In the CBS News report, Ulukaya described refugees as hardworking and loyal employees. He argued that a job could help newcomers become part of society after losing homes, family connections and familiar routines. Employment, in his view, was not only about earning wages. It could be a first step towards rebuilding a life.The approach grew out of the company’s needs, but it also reflected Ulukaya’s own experience as a newcomer. He knew what it meant to arrive without language or connections. At Chobani, he had the ability to change some of the conditions that might otherwise keep people from entering the workforce.Turning one company’s experience into TentIn 2016, Ulukaya founded the Tent Partnership for Refugees, seeking to encourage other employers to follow the hiring model he had developed at Chobani. The idea was to move refugee employment beyond the actions of a single company by mobilising businesses with the scale to create many more opportunities.UNHCR describes Tent as a network of more than 400 major companies committed to helping refugees enter local labour markets across a dozen countries in the Americas and Europe. The organisation works with employers on job-readiness and recruitment, while helping companies understand barriers such as limited access to job listings, vocational training, language services and work permits.Tent’s work includes practical tools for businesses. UNHCR says the partnership has produced hiring guides for countries including Spain, Mexico and France, and organised job fairs that connect refugees with employers. The organisations have also advocated for policy changes that could make formal employment more accessible.In 2023, Tent and its partners made a pledge on economic inclusion and social protection at the Global Refugee Forum. The wider ambition is to make refugee hiring part of business practice, rather than an occasional charitable gesture.A partnership with UNHCRIMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR CHOBANI - Founder and CEO of Chobani Hamdi Ulukaya addresses crowd as Chobani announces $1.2 billion investment in the Lehigh Valley at Crystal Spring Farm, Tuesday, September 1, 2026 in Schnecksville, Pa. (Meredith Edlow/AP Content Services for Chobani)UNHCR and Tent formalised a partnership to connect refugees with employment opportunities, including through the network of more than 400 companies. The agreement builds on years of collaboration between the two organisations on hiring resources and job fairs.The partnership recognises that refugees face barriers beyond the process of applying for a job. People may need help understanding the local labour market, gaining relevant skills, finding employers willing to consider their experience and navigating work-permit rules. Businesses may also need guidance on recruitment practices and training that can support newcomers.UNHCR has said that including refugees in local economies can benefit both employers and host communities. Refugees can fill labour gaps and contribute to economic growth, while businesses gain access to workers with varied skills and experience. The partnership aims to help make those connections more routine.Tent’s role is to bring companies together and help them act. A network of hundreds of employers offers a broader route to work than relying on individual businesses to develop programmes alone. It also gives companies a place to share approaches and learn from one another.Work as a first stepUlukaya has described a job as one of the most important milestones for refugees rebuilding their lives. That belief comes from the experience of hiring newcomers at Chobani, where language support and transportation helped people reach the workplace and contribute.A job does not resolve every difficulty faced by a displaced person. Refugees may still need housing, education, legal support and help reconnecting with family. But employment can provide income, routine and a sense of participation in the community. It can also give employers an opportunity to recognise the skills people bring with them.From his own arrival in the US in 1994 to the growth of Chobani and the launch of Tent, Ulukaya’s story has been shaped by the relationship between work and belonging. He began as a newcomer with no English and no personal network. He later built a company that hired hundreds of refugees and created a platform encouraging other businesses to do the same.Tent’s 400-plus-company network cannot guarantee a job for every refugee seeking one. It can, however, help employers identify barriers and create more routes into work. For Ulukaya, the aim is to make sure that arriving in a new country does not mean being shut out of the chance to contribute and build a future.