Originally published at stories.hilton.com. Hilton is a Hall of Fame company.
Every person — whoever, whenever, wherever — has the right to seek safety. That is the focus of this year’s World Refugee Day, June 20, a global opportunity to honor refugees and recognize their strength and courage, which Hilton is proud to support.
Guided by founder Conrad Hilton’s vision to fill the world with the light and warmth of hospitality, Hilton is committed to using its resources and tools to help support refugees. The company works with resettlement groups such as the Tent Partnership for Refugees to offer employment opportunities to support individuals as they build new lives in the U.S.
Hilton has positively impacted more than 25,000 refugees since 2015 through volunteering, in-kind donations, purchasing, training and employment. As a longtime partner of the Tent Partnership for Refugees, Hilton became the first hospitality company to join the partnership in 2018, pledging to impact 16,000 refugees through employment, hospitality training programs and procurement from refugee-run businesses by 2030. Hilton further extended that pledge in 2022 to support LGBTQ refugees.
The company furthered its support last August, when it signed on to the Tent Coalition for Afghan Refugees commitment to provide job opportunities for Afghan nationals displaced by the 2021 humanitarian crisis.
“As a business founded on the noble premise that travel can be a bridge to world peace, Hilton is honored to join with Tent in support of refugees,” said Laura Fuentes, Hilton’s Chief Human Resources Officer. “Our team members are eager to demonstrate our values of hospitality and offer career guidance and skills development, empowering them to bring their full, true selves to work each and every day as they begin new chapters.”
The global hospitality company supports refugees in myriad ways. Some of those efforts come through enterprise-wide programs, such as when, earlier in 2022, Hilton pledged to donate up to 1 million room nights to support Ukrainian refugees and humanitarian relief efforts. The Hilton Global Foundation has also provided financial support to organizations supporting refugees, including Team Rubicon in the U.S. and The Bread & Butter Project in Australia.
Other efforts are more personal and individually focused, yet no less profound, inspired by the genuine hospitality for which Hilton team members are known around the world. For example, Hilton Austin has hired more than 60 Afghan refugees and established partnerships with local organizations dedicated to supporting them. The hotel took additional steps to ensure their new team members felt at home, including identifying tenured Afghan team members to assist with translation for onboarding and mentoring; creating job-specific pictorials of commonly used terms to assist in English language learning; providing space and time for prayers in accordance with the Muslim faith; and providing menu options that align with Halal cuisine.
In 2022, Hilton has been named the #2 Best Company to Work for in the U.S. by Fortune and Great Place to Work and was also recognized in countries around the world, including Brazil (#3), China (#1), Colombia (#5), Peru (#1), Argentina (#3), Belgium (#3), Uruguay (#1), the Philippines (#3), Ireland (#1), Saudi Arabia (#3), Qatar (#8), UAE (#4), Turkey (#1), Sweden (#15), Italy (#8), Portugal (#3), France (#2), Spain (#6), Germany (#10), Canada (#7) and UK (#3). The company has also been inducted into Fair360, formerly DiversityInc’s Hall of Fame and recognized by Military Friendly for its diversity and inclusion efforts this year.
For more information on Hilton’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, visit jobs.hilton.com/diversity.
