Tech For Refugees Announces New Grant for Welcome Connect Platform

Funding Will Help Welcome.US To Expand Tech Platform Matching Refugees to Sponsors and Support Networks in the U.S.

May 21, 2024 – San Francisco – Tech For Refugees today announced that it is expanding its collaboration with Welcome.US with a grant funding its innovative Welcome Connect platform.

Launched by Julia and Yuri Milner and funded by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, Tech For Refugees is a global initiative helping technology organizations to leverage their services and expertise for refugee relief.

Welcome.US joined the initiative in 2022, which provided funding for Welcome.US’ efforts to support Americans welcoming newcomers in need of safety and refuge in the United States through safe and orderly sponsorship programs. This included a grant to help develop and scale Welcome Connect, a-first-of-its-kind public platform that provides a safe, streamlined process for Americans to match with people seeking refuge in the U.S. and enable them to access private sponsorship pathways. Initially launched to match American sponsors with Ukrainians seeking refuge from the war, it was quickly expanded to provide assistance to Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans eligible for humanitarian sponsorship and has now matched thousands of refugees with sponsors. It's an innovation that has helped welcome over 500,000 refugee newcomers over the last two years, leveraging over $7 billion in time and resources from American communities in all 50 states.

The new grant from Tech For Refugees will fund the expansion of the Welcome Connect platform to include seamless access to a fuller range of support and resources, creating a comprehensive “one-stop” hub for both sponsors and beneficiaries.

“Welcome Connect has proven itself as an innovative and efficient way to bring refugees into contact with those keen to help them,” said Yuri Milner, founder of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, “Julia and I are looking forward to seeing the platform develop and impact the lives of even more people”.

“Our partnership with the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and its Tech for Refugees initiative has powered what is proving to be a transformative solution to the global refugee crisis: enabling everyday Americans in communities in all 50 states to sponsor and resettle refugee newcomers," said Nazanin Ash, CEO of Welcome.US. “True to the Breakthrough Prize Foundation's mission, this partnership is inspiring communities to act and having a generational impact on people's lives – not only for the refugee newcomers we are privileged to welcome, but in the lives of the welcomers serving as their bridge to safety".

About Tech For Refugees

Tech For Refugees is a non-profit initiative that supports refugee relief efforts through technology. The initiative funds leading tech organizations to use their networks, services, and expertise to make a difference in the lives of refugees from Ukraine and across the world. Current partners include Airbnb.org, Flexport.org, Spotify, Welcome.US, the International Rescue Committee, and others. Tech For Refugees is funded by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation established by Julia and Yuri Milner.

More details can be found at techforrefugees.org.

About Welcome.US

Welcome.US was founded to unite, inspire, and empower Americans to support those seeking refuge here, beginning with Afghan refugees evacuated to the United States after the fall of Kabul in August 2021.

Welcome.US has one overarching goal: to grow that outpouring of public support into building durable capacity and codifying commitments to welcome all newcomers. In partnership with local and national resettlement agencies, community organizations and leaders, refugees, community sponsorship groups, non-profits, businesses, faith-based institutions, veterans, universities, four former Presidents and four former First Ladies, Welcome.US is the single point of entry for Americans who want to get involved and support those who are starting new lives in the United States.