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David and Yusuf, Film production mentorship, London, 2019

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We are matchmakers, connecting refugees with professional mentors

Kimiyaa means ‘chemistry’ in Arabic - for connections to work, we need Kimiyaa.

We are a charitable organization helping refugees on their path to finding employment.

Find a Mentor

Be a Mentor

Help Support Us

How does it work?

We connect refugees (our mentees) with local professionals (our mentors) in their adopted country to help develop their skills, grow their network and lay down roots in their chosen sector.

After the success of our pilot programmes in London and Munich we are growing our community across the UK.

In 8 online mentoring sessions, once a week, industry-specific knowledge is shared, and access to a new network of professionals is opened.

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Impact

We are still at the beginning of our journey, supporting refugees from over 20 countries.

65+ Mentorships

650+ Mentorship hours

30+ Professional areas

Upon completion of a mentorship programme, refugee participants will have achieved one or more of the following:

Job placement
Internship
Completion of LinkedIn Profile and CV
Recommendation letter from their mentor
Establishing of first professional network in the country
Enhanced industry knowledge in their chosen sector
Confidence boost
Certificate of participation and reference letter from Kimiyaa

Refugee participants in Kimiyaa programmes have travelled far and wide from all over the world

Some Present and Past Mentorships

Khalid & Jitesh

Present mentorship

Technology and starting a business Mentorship

Khalid is originally from Iraq and is interested in opening a food business in the UK. Jitesh, a Business Executive who worked at Just Eat, is providing valuable business guidance to Khalid.

Bintou & Claudia

Past mentorship

Windows Programs Mentorship

In November 2015, after a long stop off in Libya, Bintou finally arrived in Munich from Mali with her husband and 2 year-old daughter.

Claudia mentored Bintou in computer skills while strengthening her German language. The mentorship helped Bintou on her path to becoming a secretary.

Mohammed & Anat

Present mentorship

Architecture and Engineering Mentorship

Mohammed came to the UK from Palestine with rich experience as a Civil Engineer, yet no local connections in the UK industry. Anat, a London-based Architect at Zaha Hadid Architects, is helping Mohammed navigate engineering work opportunities.

Ousman & Elizabeth

Past mentorship

Gardening Mentorship

Ousman came to Germany from Gambia in autumn of 2014. He wanted to become a gardener after passing the necessary school exam.

In Elisabeth, a Munich-based gardener, he found the right person to teach him the trade and motivate him further.

Ngozi and Helene

Present mentorship

TV and Broadcasting Mentorship

Ngozi was trained in Media and Communication in Nigeria, and keen to work in Documentary Film Production. We teamed her up with Helene, a Senior Producer at Channel 4 News.

Hamdi & Karen

Past mentorship

Graphic Design Mentorship

Hamdi, Syrian-born, resides in Munich. As the son of a graphic designer he wanted to pursue a similar passion for web design and programming in Germany.

Karen, a designer based in Munich, recalls: "Hamdi was a fast learner and I enjoyed his jokes!”.

Donate

Kimiyaa allocates every donation to the mentorships, from inception to completion.

All the money we raise is directed towards finding the mentors and refugees, matching them, and supporting them throughout their dialogue.

Partners

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