Ready for American Hospitality (RAH)

RAH Overview

Creating Sustainable Lives for Refugees

The Fritz Knoebel partnership with the Ethiopian Community Development Council’s African Community Center, a refugee resettlement agency, represents one of the most important and powerful educational frameworks to enable effective learning experiences for responsible leadership.

Since 2012 refugees and DU undergraduates from Fritz Knoebel have gone through this immersive service-learning course. Fritz Knoebel students must staff a fine dining event held at DU and their employee selection pool is the Ready for American Hospitality refugee students. It is up to the Fritz Knoebel students to guide their refugee protégés through the application, selection, training, and orientation process. This experience immerses these students in a working relationship which requires the exercising of unique communication skills, patience, creativity, and a cultural awareness from both parties.  

Industry Partner Testimonials

“Tanisha shows that she has the compassion and understanding. That makes her different and that makes her successful in helping on-boarding these individuals to a new culture, to a new country.”
-Marcel Pitton | Managing Director (retired), The Brown Palace Hotel & Spa

“As operators within a very challenging and high volume airport environment, we have leaned heavily on the training and skills of the employees that were connected to us through the RAH program.  These employees have shown a commitment to hospitality and excellence that is exemplary, and their spirit for the industry and their thirst for continued development makes each of these individuals a real joy to work with.  We look forward to our continued collaboration with this incredible and worthwhile program.”
-Dave Willner | Chief Operating Officer, Skyport Hospitality