Mohammad Basel Alyounes, a Syrian accounting graduate, was met by members of a German news crew after a 2,300-mile journey to Berlin.

They asked him what he hoped for his new life in Germany, and he said: “In 2016, I want to work for EY.” Within a week, he had been found through social media, and the EY German firm hired him.

Basel is just one of the refugees that EY’s German Diversity Charter refugee support team is working with in response to this humanitarian crisis.

EY’s German Diversity Charter refugee support team is leading the corporate response to one of the greatest humanitarian crises of our age. In conjunction with Germany’s Charta der Vielfalt (Diversity Charter), an EY Germany team is managing efforts to help refugees integrate into the German workforce. And they are liaising with 50 German companies in a roundtable project to share leading practices, improve internship programs and reach more refugees.

This team has increased employee involvement in EY Germany through a volunteer and pro bono program called EY Cares. Through EY Cares, the team got funding for a language-learning app, developed by an employee of EY Germany. The team has also supported Kiron, a social start-up providing higher education to refugees, and it has launched a pilot internship program for 10 refugees across EY Germany. Basel was among the first who benefited from this social start-up.

Because of its efforts and knowledge, another country invited the EY Cares team to present the roundtable project and discuss how it could be implemented beyond Germany. This initial meeting has led to ongoing conversations and hopes that the program may expand to other countries.