Our story
"I founded Tribe with a clear vision to build a world in which everyone feels like they belong, no matter where they live. We are combating the epidemic of loneliness by transforming cities into villages and helping everyone discover the magic of community."
- Rafat Khan, Founder & CEO
Mission
Our mission today is to help people make new friends in their city by finding them a group of like-minded peers and empowering hosts to curate magical in-person experiences for them to develop meaningful connections.
Vision
Our vision is to build a less lonely world by re-designing cities and transforming urban neighborhoods into villages where people feel loved by community members, empowered by gatherers, and elevated by local businesses.
Values
Our mission is grounded in the core values of authenticity, vulnerability, and play. We design these values into all of the experiences of our members and hosts, giving them permission to connect meaningfully.
Meet the founder
Rafat Khan
Hi Friends,
If you're reading this, then you and I have one important thing in common - we both crave deep, meaningful human connection. Join me in building this movement to create a more beautiful world full of connection, community, and friendship!
My work with Tribe is rooted in two core beliefs. First, I believe that conscious, people-first businesses can be a force for good and serve the world in powerful ways by pushing us toward a better future. Second, I believe that the key to building a less lonely world lies in empowering community builders to bring people together through meaningful gatherings that unlock authenticity, vulnerability, and play.
The vision:
I want to build a world where everyone feels like they belong, where cities feel like villages and our neighbors feel like our tribe.
Why “Tribe”?
At Tribe, our mission is to help people find a sense of deep connection and belonging. In a world that often feels fragmented, we believe in building real-world community—spaces where people feel seen, supported, and at home. The word Tribe, for us, captures that essence.
We chose the name Tribe because of what it evokes: kinship, loyalty, shared identity, and chosen family. It's a word that has been used across time and cultures—from the twelve tribes of Israel to ancient social groupings, to today’s modern metaphors for close-knit communities. To us, Tribe reflects the universal human longing to find “your people.”
At the same time, we recognize that the word Tribe carries significant cultural, political, and legal meaning—particularly for Indigenous communities around the world. In the U.S. and other settler-colonial nations, Tribe is not just a symbolic term—it represents sovereignty, survival, and ancestral identity, and is deeply intertwined with the lived experience and rights of Indigenous peoples. We honor that, and we do not take our use of the word lightly.
We believe it’s possible to respect the deep cultural meaning of this word for Indigenous peoples, while also celebrating its metaphorical power to describe meaningful, modern human connection. Language can carry multiple truths, and we aim to use Tribe with both reverence and intentionality. Our goal is not only to build community, but to do so responsibly—with openness to learning, respect for lived histories, and a commitment to honoring the diversity of cultures that make up the human experience.
Our logo—a simple tent—represents home, belonging, and refuge. A tent can be built anywhere, by anyone. It’s a reminder that you can create a sense of home wherever you go, and that community isn’t tied to one place—it’s something we build together. Tribe is meant to be that home for you - your village.
