Military veterans at major U.S. companies to mentor Afghans

Afghans who are struggling to find work in line with the careers they had before they fled their country can now sign up to get mentored by U.S. military veterans working in their field.

The new program, created by Tent Partnership for Refugees, already has 16 companies participating around the United States, including software developer Intuit in San Diego. Google, American Airlines, Pfizer, Hello Fresh and Chobani are also participating, among other well-known brands.

Each company has committed to providing military veteran employees to mentor at least 50 Afghans. Tent is still looking for more companies to participate, with the goal of mentoring at least 1,500 people over the next three years.

“If an environment is created, if a chance is given, if connections are made, there are amazing success stories,” said Hamdi Ulukaya, Tent founder and Chobani CEO.

He noted that U.S. military troops and the Afghans who helped them in Afghanistan established close bonds over the past two decades. He hopes the new program will use those bonds to help Afghans reach their career and life goals in their new home.

Intuit’s San Diego office in Torrey Highlands serves as the company’s headquarters for its TurboTax software.

Yaron Schwartz, Tent’s director for the United States, said that many high-skilled Afghans have struggled to find work in their fields — a common issue for newcomers to the United States.

“Many times they took entry level jobs soon after arriving in the United States to support themselves and their families and are looking to advance in careers and find roles that are better suited to their professional backgrounds,” Schwartz said. “Mentorship is a powerful complement in the hiring space.”

Founded in 2016, Tent guides companies in hiring refugees and offers resources such as cultural competency training for businesses hoping to help their refugee workers integrate smoothly. In the past, it created a similar program for LGBTQ-identifying employees at major companies to mentor LGBTQ-identifying refugees.

Mustafa Babak, executive director of the Afghan-American Foundation, called the mentorship program unprecedented.

“Afghans have been in the United States since the 1960s,” Babak said, “but this is the first time that such an impactful program has been launched to help build skills and give the tools for Afghan refugees to integrate in the U.S.”

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough called the Afghans who were evacuated when the U.S. military withdrew from their country a massive human resource for the United States.

“This is not an act of generosity or humanitarian outreach,” McDonough said. “This is an act of self interest.”

He thanked veterans for leading many of the efforts to evacuate Afghans and for helping them resettle in the United States. He said that by mentoring Afghans through the new Tent program, veterans would be showing the United States the way forward yet again.

Veterans interested in mentoring can do so through employers who have signed on to the program. Afghans interested in being mentored can sign up through an online form or email info@tent.org for more information.