Leading International company ICL is working with the NGO TENT to provide mentoring to female refugees in Europe and the US. The goal is to help female refugees overcome the challenges of adapting to a new society and find meaningful work. ICL’s Sjierly Rodrigues Pereira talks about the partnership with TENT and how it is transforming the lives of many women refugees.
ICL: Investing in Social Responsibility Worldwide
ICL is one of the world’s leading specialty mineral groups with an ever-growing global presence and over 12,500 employees worldwide. The company is conducting vital research and development into new products and applications in fields as diverse as LFP battery materials and other aspects of clean energy storage, food, agriculture, cosmetics, and a range of other industrial products.
ICL is deeply committed to achieving sustainability, creating equitable workplaces, and encouraging every employee to reach their natural potential through education, mentorship, and active career management. ICL also has a strong ethic of social responsibility and is highly focused on acting as a force for good in the communities where it operates.
One group in society that is frequently overlooked is refugees; women refugees in particular. Language barriers, a lack of personal and professional contacts, poverty, trauma, official indifference, public hostility, and even the basic difficulties of adapting to a new society and culture can result in social isolation and exclusion. Some refugees experience a sense of powerlessness that can be almost impossible to break free from.
ICL already has a long-established corporate culture that is based on identifying raw talent among its own employees and then giving people a framework, as well as the tools and mentorship to grow and excel. It was a logical step for ICL to team up with the TENT Partnership for Refugees and help some of society’s most isolated and vulnerable – but potentially hugely talented – people find meaningful work.
ICL and the TENT Partnership for Refugees
The TENT Partnership for Refugees is the brainchild of Turkish-American entrepreneur Hamdi Ulukaya. After moving to the US and creating the billion-dollar food brand Chobani, Hamdi began devoting considerable time and resources to projects combating food insecurity in the US.
He then founded TENT to help refugees integrate into the job market. Hamdi had previously hired refugees and had discovered that “the minute a refugee gets a job is the minute they stop being a refugee.”
TENT has evolved into a global network that works directly with over 250 major businesses to support refugees. The organization mediates between women refugees and employers via a series of local hubs to facilitate their job search and secure meaningful employment. Practical mentorship, that includes a variety of tools and tips, is helping women find work, and with it, a more secure place in society.
The successful collaboration between NGOs like TENT and leading corporations like ICL is massively significant and is game-changing on every level. Major companies have the resources and expertise to meet the challenges of employment mentorship and are accustomed to getting results. Mentors are quick to empathize with the challenges faced by women refugees and become highly motivated on a personal level. The results of the ICL/TENT partnership are extremely encouraging. ICL’s Sjierly Rodrigues Pereira takes up the narrative.
What is the Female Refugee Mentorship Program?
The female refugee mentoring program was started approximately a year ago. It’s a collaboration between ICL and TENT. TENT is an international organization that works with refugees and major companies all over the world. TENT matches mentors from the participating companies with local mentees. The mentees in this case are female refugees who are living in the same country as their mentor.
For example, I would be matched with someone who has the Netherlands as their host country. A mentor in France would have a mentee in France because the whole point is that the mentor from ICL can explain the local culture and the specific requirements of the local job market, to give the mentee the best chance of achieving success when they enter the job market.
How do you choose your mentors? Do you have a list of volunteers that you can choose from to create the right match with a mentee?
The actual matching is done by TENT. They perform a kind of mediating role between the companies and the refugees. What ICL did was invite its own employees to participate in the program. We explain the importance of supporting local communities and especially disadvantaged newcomers like women refugees. The goal is empowerment through knowledge, tools, and practical support. Any employee – male or female – who wants to volunteer as a mentor will be considered.
There have been some recent changes to the system. Our people now apply directly to TENT. Potential mentors indicate their language skills, professional and educational background, and wider interests.
TENT then matches volunteers with suitable refugees. They also confirm that mentees are ready to begin the program and enter the job market, and have valid work permits, etc. I assist as the coordinator for Europe by supporting our mentors with practical knowledge and assistance where necessary.
What inspired ICL – or the HR team – to establish this mentorship program with TENT?
ICL works across the board to create a positive impact on local communities. The mentorship program is another aspect of that focus. ICL really demonstrates its commitment to helping marginalized populations and providing them with the opportunities to succeed (not just as a temporary solution, but in a sustainable way).
That’s a big part of what we’re looking at within the company. How can we be sustainable in anything that we do?
Refugees, in this case, female refugees, run into a lot of significant challenges when they try to integrate into their host communities. Many come face to face with the rules and culture of a new society where people behave very differently.
Finding employment and accessing education is very difficult, particularly for female refugees and for older people. ICL mentors bring a lot of passion and a willingness to share their knowledge and skills. It’s far more important than just providing financial resources.
What are the objectives that you hope to achieve through this program with women?
The primary goal is to promote the integration of female refugees, refugees in general, into their host communities by fostering a meaningful connection through our local mentors. We’re a society and people need people. ICL volunteers can really make an impact by creating personal connections and by building relationships and engaging in social interactions.
We can help refugees have a sense, have a feeling of belonging and acceptance. When we signed up with TENT, we agreed to support 50 female refugees over a period of three years. Each ICL mentor provides six sessions over a period of 12 months where they support professional development, local labor market and cultural orientation, employability tools, and media support.
It’s a comprehensive process. We talk to the mentee and discuss her professional and educational background. We’re not going to tell them how to do things that they are already competent in. But we can start with the basics and support with CV writing, cover letter writing, and how to create a good, attractive LinkedIn profile, as well as provide a LinkedIn learning license – paid by ICL, as far as they need it.
We help them understand how to network in our country. This can be very different from country to country and a lot depends on the local culture. Our local volunteers teach the basic do’s and don’ts of communicating with people in a work setting and how to initiate that first contact.
Are there any particular success stories that you would like to share with us today?
Yes, there’s one that I would like to share. I think especially as we initiated this with the HR community in Europe. Our VP, Angelique Derwort, mentored a female refugee from Iran. I don’t want to give too much information about the refugee, but she lived in the Netherlands for over seven years. For five of those years, she lived in a refugee community and wasn’t allowed to work. I can’t even imagine how difficult that could be, especially for someone who’s used to working and providing…
Angelique told me that when the project started, they connected and they learned that although they have a lot of differences, they both have an HR background. So there was a really good connection there.
TENT did a good job of matching them. So over a period of time, Angelique brought her to the office and we all met her. Angelique helped her to understand the work environment in the Netherlands, and to build her CV and her LinkedIn profile, to focus on her strengths as well.
Now, her mentee has a coachee position with a big Dutch company. What I really loved was that Angelique also said she learned a lot from the connection and that she understands that being a refugee is quite hard.
You have to start all over again with nothing. You have to learn a new language. You need to understand the cultural differences that you’re running into and understand your new position as a refugee. You have a completely different status all of a sudden. I think that must also be very difficult.
She overcame these challenges to find a position in the job market, but they’re still in contact. So I think that’s really nice and also shows that you can build a strong personal connection through a mentorship program like this.
What challenges have you encountered in implementing and running the mentorship program, and how have you addressed them?
We did have some teething issues with initial coordination between the refugees and their mentors. As the coordinator of the mentorship program for Europe, I do my best to address all the issues that are brought to me by the mentors and to have an open discussion about the best way ahead and what would work better for us as a high-functioning international company.
I think that requires a certain approach as well. TENT has changed its registration process to an ongoing process selection process, both for the mentors and the mentees.
People can sign up as mentors throughout the year. The mentees are also contacted before the matching happens to hopefully achieve a higher connection rate between the mentor and the mentee. That is one thing that was addressed. Luckily, they listen to us and when we run into issues, we have good communication with TENT and they are open to suggestions.
How does the program promote long-term integration and empowerment of refugees – beyond the initial mentorship phase?
Knowledge is power. I think in general, when you give people knowledge, you give them something that no one can take away from them anymore and also something that they can endlessly share with others. By giving the female refugees an understanding of the local culture in their host country, we’re supporting their integration and helping them to integrate into society.
We also support female refugees in very specific ways. We are empowering women to take care of themselves. Economic independence is vital for everyone, even more so when they have families to take care of. All the gained knowledge can be shared.
The women pass important life skills on to their own children and other personal contacts. Knowledge takes on its own momentum and gives people freedom of choice. People shouldn’t be judged based on their past or their background as they can function in a new society according to their own potential and ambitions.
Looking ahead, what are the future plans and goals of the Refugee Mentorship Program? How do you envision the long term?
We originally started in Europe on quite a small scale. The program was so successful that HR is expanding its partnership with TENT to help refugees in the United States. We have a lot of employees in ICL – 12,500 and growing. We are an international company, and (unfortunately) the problem of refugees is also a global one.
It would obviously be great if this mentorship could be taken on in different regions if it can spread beyond the remit of HR Europe, and more people within ICL volunteer as mentors. I think that the program has the potential to transform the lives of both the refugees it helps and the mentors who assist them.
Direct, one-on-one human interaction is an innovative departure from the traditional corporate model of simple financial donations to good causes. Maybe we can build on that concept and channel it into other projects. Society has no shortage of problems to address…
ICL’s Commitment to Creating a Better World
ICL is not simply committed to supporting community initiatives and social programs. Where possible, it chooses programs that allow the active participation of ICL employees (whose volunteering is supported by the company).
ICL also provides funding and logistical support to new projects, in the expectation that they will become fully sustainable and self-supporting on a long-term basis. The goal is to empower communities, not to create perpetual dependence on external funding.
The ICL partnership with TENT is a superb example of how the passion and enthusiasm of ICL’s employees can transform the lives of marginalized people. Refugees who fled their homelands, often in desperate circumstances, face the challenges of adapting to a new society with a foreign language and very different social norms. ICL volunteers share their knowledge and expertise and give refugees the skills to adapt and find meaningful work.
ICL is now increasing its commitment to the TENT partnership by extending the program to the US. ICL has a growing presence in the United States and is in the process of constructing a brand new 400-million-dollar plant on its existing site in St. Louis. ICL’s US staff are already volunteering to mentor refugees in the US.
The latest initiative is just a part of the company’s wider commitment to generating a lasting, positive impact in every community where it maintains operations. If you want to make a real difference and contribute to a better world, while you work, ICL would love to hear from you!
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