my name is iliasu. i m originally from east africa. hamdi is an immigrant who came to the united states from turkey who couldn t speak english and is now the ceo and founder of chobani. hamdi is a big inspiration to me. it s not because i hear his story our listen to his story. because i ve seen it. i see it daily. how fast we re growing. how fast we re helping the community. people always have really high expectation on how it will be in america, but once i get here, the community helps us big time. i didn t think the founder of a yogurt company would become one of the most influential people in the world. he brings to bear all of the attributes of a person who would commit their life to something bigger than themselves. so the tent foundation ultimately evolved into the tent partnership. over 100 companies today are on this crusade with hamdi to employ refugees all over the
world. since it started, tent has supported over 200,000 refugees in 34 countries. i haven t seen my family for about 12 years, but chobani is to me my nimes right now. we are like a community. i don t feel like a refugee anymore. [ cheers and applause ] on behalf of my brothers and sisters at chobani and tent, thank you for this honor. there is this theory out there
in central new york. and today it is a global food brand. he has built a billion-dollar business empire while building better lives for his employees. he has championed refugees in marginalized communities in chobani s workforce providing access to continued education and creating a culture of family for those far from their own. [ cheers and applause ] but with a vision that extended beyond his own company, hamdi set up the tent partnership for refugees, an organization which mobilizes the private sector to address the global refugee crisis. take a look. so my name is prakas. i m originally from nepal. so we wanted to move america for a better life. when i came here, i found everything that i wanted.
liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. please welcome kal penn. [ cheers and applause ] businesses in the private sector are essential to getting our planet back on track and tonight, we honor an entrepreneur who believes the only way forward is to invest in humanity. born into a family of dairy farmers in eastern turkey, moved to america in 1994 with just a few hundred dollars. within a matter of years, he had opened the first chobani factory