Creating Work Opportunities for Refugees, with Aline Sara

What if one of the world's greatest untapped talent pools is hiding in plain sight?
More than 120 million people around the world have been forcibly displaced by conflict, persecution and violence. Yet too often refugees are portrayed through the lens of crisis rather than capability. Their stories are reduced to statistics, while their skills, ambitions and entrepreneurial potential remain overlooked.
Listen in as we mark World Refugee Month, and speak with one of the leading innovators challenging that narrative.
Meet Social Impact Pioneer, Aline Sara, Co-Founder and CEO of NaTakallam, the award-winning social enterprise transforming how businesses and individuals engage with refugees and conflict-affected communities. Rather than treating displaced people as beneficiaries of aid, NaTakallam connects them with organisations and learners around the world as language tutors, translators, educators and public speakers, creating dignified work through the digital economy.
Since its launch, the platform has enabled refugees and conflict-affected individuals to earn more than $5 million, working with over 37,000 users across 110 countries and supporting more than 350 organisations worldwide.
Born to Lebanese parents and shaped by a childhood lived between New York and a homeland marked by conflict, Aline's personal story is inseparable from her professional mission. From journalism and human rights research to building a pioneering social enterprise, she has spent more than a decade working alongside displaced communities, proving that opportunity, not charity, is often the most powerful response to humanitarian crises.
Together, we explore why the future of refugee inclusion lies beyond aid alone; how businesses can unlock talent that too often goes unseen; and why creating access to meaningful work is fundamental to restoring dignity, resilience and hope. Aline also shares candid reflections on scaling a mission-driven business, navigating the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, and balancing commercial sustainability with deep social impact.
Perhaps most powerfully, we discuss why refugee issues should never be discussed without refugees themselves being part of the conversation. Through NaTakallam's Refugee Voices programme, people with lived experience are leading conversations that challenge stereotypes, build empathy and foster genuine human connection across borders.
This is a conversation about displacement, entrepreneurship, inclusive business and the future of work, but above all, it is a reminder that behind every refugee statistic is a person with skills, ideas and aspirations waiting for the opportunity to contribute.
Links:
NaTakallam : https://natakallam.com/
Aline Sara : https://www.linkedin.com/in/alinesara/
And if you liked this, try:
Financing Solar Energy in the Global South with Lassor and Ruchir:
https://businessfightspoverty.org/financing-solar-energy-in-the-global-south-with-lassor-and-ruchir/
and
The Business of Coral Reefs with Sam Teicher: https://businessfightspoverty.org/the-business-of-coral-reefs-with-sam-teicher/