PRESS RELEASE: Ahead of World Refugee Day, Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya Joins Climate Migration Council
Ulukaya, A Longstanding Advocate for Refugees, Signs On To Help Put People at the Center of Climate Action
NEW YORK – Ahead of World Refugee Day, Hamdi Ulukaya, CEO of Chobani and founder of the Tent Partnership for Refugees, has joined the Climate Migration Council – a group of world leaders who share a commitment to putting people at the center of climate action. Earlier this week, Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp, Sausalito, CA Mayor Melissa Blaustein, and Admiral Scott H. Swift, USN (ret) also joined the Council, adding to the growing number of voices pushing for national governments across the globe to develop and adopt equitable and inclusive solutions to address climate-related human mobility. The Council now stands at over 60 members and counting – ranging from big city mayors and business leaders to former heads of state, advocacy leaders, and faith leaders.
“I am humbled to join the strong leaders of the Climate Migration Council in sharing the same commitments of putting humanity at the center of such important global issues,” said Hamdi Ulukaya. “There are so many barriers that migrants, refugees, and immigrants face and the business community has a tremendous responsibility to take sustainable action and use our voice to advocate.”
Ulukaya has become a leading voice in the movement to hire refugees, having discovered through his own experience that, “the minute a refugee gets a job is the minute they stop being a refugee.” That inspired him to start the Tent Partnership for Refugees in 2016, a network of over 300 major companies committed to economically integrating refugees through hiring, training, and mentorship opportunities around the world. Ulukaya also signed the Giving Pledge, committing the majority of his personal wealth to help bring an end to the refugee crisis.
For those efforts, Ulukaya was named an Eminent Advocate by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and received the United Nations Foundation Global Leadership Award, among other recognitions. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has also named him as a Sustainable Development Goals Advocate. He has received the Oslo Business for Peace Award and George H.W Bush Points of Light Award, is a Global Citizen Prize winner, and was named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World for his work on the refugee crisis and his innovative approach to business. Most recently, Ulukaya was named Chairman of the U.S.-Türkiye Business Council, where he will assist with better connecting the countries governments and business communities to improve economies and supply chains.
On the council, Ulukaya will add his own unique perspective to the search for adaptive solutions to climate change that integrate local stakeholder know-how with scalable design.
Find more information on the council, including how to join, here.