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John Kluge

@klugesan.bsky.social
161 followers 368 following 60 posts

Moving private capital to refugee entrepreneurs. Author, Banking on Belonging (July ’26). Mead-maker on a regenerative VA farm. Occasional writer, frequent board member, FTE husband and dad.

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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Lonnie Ali of the Muhammed Ali Center shares recent study finding compassion has declined across six cities studied, yet finds a rise in people seeking out compassion. “Rebuilding trust in the world begins with compassion. And that begins with compassion for self.” #concordia26
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Thrilled to be at #Concordia26 w my colleague from the Refugee Investment Network, Selen Ucak, as we engage new friends and partners in investing with refugees to build economies of belonging. #UNGA
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Today at #Concordia26 I join @unhcr.org High Commissioner Barham Salih, Jonathan Reckford & @usaforunhcr.bsky.social’s Suzanne Ehlers on durable solutions for displaced communities. Refugees are talented workers & founders. Let’s invest together in a real way out of long-term displacement. #UNGA
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
The ‘Economies of Belonging Tour’ is already underway with a list of dates and venues. We’ll update it as more come online. Want us to come to your city, firm, or organization? Send us a note! bankingonbelonging.com/impact-tour #books #withrefugees #impinv #migration
bankingonbelonging.com
Home | BelongingBook
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Our first copies arrived! Banking on Belonging is out Aug 18 from @columbiaup.bsky.social. Christine and I make the economic case for investing in displaced people — the jobs, the companies, the funds, the financing. #impinv #refugees #migration #business www.amazon.com/Banking-Belo...
amazon.com
Banking on Belonging: Why Investing in Refugee Entrepreneurs Benefits Everyone
Banking on Belonging: Why Investing in Refugee Entrepreneurs Benefits Everyone [Kluge Jr., John, Mahoney, Christine] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Banking on Belonging: Why Investing in Refugee Entrepreneurs Benefits Everyone
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Today is #EarthOvershootDay 🌎. $345B of private capital went into AI last year. $23B went into nature. Money moves when something in the structure compels it. #Nature has no seat, no vote, no standing. A creditor that cannot file! More here: open.substack.com/pub/klugesan...
open.substack.com
Earth Overshoot Day & The Creditor That Cannot File
On Earth Overshoot Day, a note on why the money keeps going somewhere else
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2X Global @2xglobal.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Private capital is critical to closing the climate finance gap but won't reach women without the right market infrastructure. Our latest paper, submitted to UNFCCC under the Belém Gender Action Plan, outlines what it takes to scale gender-responsive climate finance. www.2xglobal.org/knowledge-hu...
2xglobal.org
Gender-Responsive Climate Finance: Scaling Private Investment — 2X Global
2X Global's input paper to the UNFCCC Belém Gender Action Plan outlines how blended finance, common standards and gender technical assistance can unlock private investment in gender-responsive climate...
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Advocacy hasn’t shifted the politics around #refugees. Capital might. We joined @ImpactAlpha.com’s Agents of Impact podcast to make the economic case for investing in displaced entrepreneurs. The US #resettlement program alone has generated close to $500B in tax contributions. tinyurl.com/3rpkf9h6
impactalpha.com
The economic case for investing in refugee entrepreneurs (podcast)
Advocacy has fallen short in changing the political climate around refugees and migrants, who have been castigated as a burden on economies. Perhaps ...
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Every business depends on nature. Almost none answer to it. Our beverage company,Thistlerock, is built around a #Gaelic phrase, dòigh nàdair — the way, path, or dao, of #nature. #business 1/3
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Igor Sushko @igorsushko.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
1 million Ukrainian refugees make up 2.5% of Poland's population but contribute 2.7% to the Polish GDP (Deloitte/UNHCR), helping prevent economic stagnation. 8% higher economic contribution per capita by Ukrainian refugees to Poland than the Poles.
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Today we celebrate America’s 250th birthday Monticello the best way we know how—by welcoming 75 new Americans from 36 countries as they took the Oath of Allegiance.
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Abilu Tangwa. @abilutangwa.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Fact: 80% of terrestrial biodiversity lives in forests. When trees vanish, species vanish.
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Tomorrow #America turns 250. I spent some time this week asking what James Madison -the guy who literally built the guardrails of our #democracy- would make of where we are. #july4 #usconstitution open.substack.com/pub/klugesan...
open.substack.com
A Fellow Citizen's Address to the Present Hour
Reflections on the state of the Republic at 250 years, offered in the spirit — though not, of course, the actual hand — of James Madison
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Bravo gents, bravo! Belgium here we come!🇺🇸 #usmnt #worldcup #digdeep
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Stanford Social Innovation Review @ssir.org · 29/06/2026
Impact investors can successfully serve as a counterbalance to governments that are ambivalent, obstructionist, or even hostile to refugees. SSIR’s David Johnson speaks w/ Christine Mahoney and John Kluge Jr. about their new feature article, “Building the Refugee Economy.” Tuesday, July 14:
stanford.zoom.us
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Building the Refugee Economy: An SSIR Author Conversation. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
As humanitarian aid agencies buckle under the collapse of financial support, should the private sector step in to invest in refugees and integrate them into the economy? Christine Mahoney and John K...
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rprobbins.bsky.social @rprobbins.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Great news for the American people 💯🎯
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
#Virginia produces <4% of the honey we consume, and ours is the most valuable in the country, pound for pound. But we’re barely producing it. My case for making the pollinator economy a real focus of Virginia's Farm & Forest Plan ran in the @richmond.com: 🐝 #bees richmond.com/opinion/colu...
richmond.com
Virginia's pollinators are on everyone's balance sheet. It's time we counted them. | Guest column
Virginia’s pollinator economy is quietly collapsing under imported fake honey and disappearing habitat, and the smartest, most profitable move we can make is to finally put bees — managed and
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Grateful to @porchlightbooks.bsky.social for featuring an adaptation from BANKING ON BELONGING (out 7/21). Investing in #refugee entrepreneurs builds stronger economies for everyone. 8 strategies, free to read. CC @unhcr.org porchlightbooks.com/blogs/changethis/banking-on-belonging
porchlightbooks.com
A Blueprint for Belonging: Scaling Refugee Lens Investing Worldwide
John Kluge and Christine Mahoney's book, Banking on Belonging, makes the case that investing in refugees not only helps displaced communities, but also builds more prosperous and resilient economies w...
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Something I’ve learned about refugee entrepreneurs: the business plans are often sharper than what I see from founders who had every advantage. Scarcity is a brutal teacher. The talent was never the missing piece. It’s capital and access that is the market failure.
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
People hear “refugee” and picture need. I spent a decade learning to picture risk-taking. Someone who crossed a border with nothing and rebuilt a life is, almost by definition, an entrepreneur. Our book is about what happens when capital finally treats them that way.
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
The phrase I keep coming back to: from donor to partner. Refugees don’t need rescuing so much as backing. A grant says “I’ll help you survive.” An investment says “I believe you’ll build something.” The latter is the paradigm shift.
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Newly back (and actually posting this year)! Short version: I work to move private capital to refugee entrepreneurs — not as charity, but because they’re some of the best founders most investors never meet. Book on it, “Banking on Belonging”, out July 21. I also make mead in Virginia. 👋 #refugees
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
This morning, an exec at a big NGO asked me: "Will #USAID come back?" My answer: Probably. But it doesn't matter. 123M displaced people can't wait for Congress to decide. The humanitarian sector is fighting the wrong battle. Here's what they should do instead: open.substack.com/pub/klugesan...
open.substack.com
Will US Foreign Aid Come Back?
(And Why It Doesn’t Matter)
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
🌳 Our bond with nature is fading, threatening our health & planet. My new op-ed, reflecting on new research documenting a 60% loss of connection to nature, explores why reconnecting is vital—for body, soul, and survival—and how we can act now! 🌍 #Nature substack.com/inbox/post/1...
substack.com
Reconnecting with Nature: A Call to Heal Ourselves and Our Planet
We’re losing something vital, and it’s not just the forests or the wildlife—it’s us.
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Join me on Tue, Aug 12, 6-8pm for a fireside chat & book launch with Dr. @Rosa Vásquez Espinoza! Celebrating The Spirit of the Rainforest—exploring the Amazon, stingless bees, & indigenous wisdom. RSVP: spiritofthe rainforest.eventbrite.com #AmazonConservation #BookLaunch #ThistlerockMead #virginia
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Grateful for our community for showing up on July 4th in protest of government overreach and fighting to protect academic freedom! Please consider signing our petition to the Virginia General Assembly to shield our institutions from a despotic federal government! #uva Change.org/handsoffUVA
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 24/05/2025
The Environmental Protection Agency has drafted a plan to eliminate all limits on greenhouse gases from coal and gas-fired power plants in the U.S., according to internal agency documents reviewed by The New York Times.
nytimes.com
Documents Show E.P.A. Wants to Erase Greenhouse Gas Limits on Power Plants
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
💐Why hit up your local farmers market? Fresh, tasty produce, direct support for local farmers, and less environmental impact. Plus, you’ll find unique goods and connect with your community. Visit one this weekend! 🐝🍷 #FarmersMarket #SupportLocal #thistlerock
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
Grateful for good people doing good in the world. My buddy Brian Woerner from the #WorldHoneyExchange stopped by the farm for an impromptu rare honey tasting and to hatch collaboration plans for the next year. 🍯🐝🍷✈️🌍🎥
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
Honored to join the board of @jmmontpelier.bsky.social ! Grateful for the opportunity to help steward the legacy of the Father of the Constitution and engage with an incredible team dedicated to preserving history and fostering dialogue. #Montpelier #JamesMadison
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
He is a dose of positivity to get your Friday started- a case study on the #innovativefinance work for #affordablehousing being led by @redlightmanagement.bsky.social & DMB’s Bama Works Fund in #Charlottesville, VA ssir.org/articles/ent...
ssir.org
Crash Into Housing (SSIR)
How the Bama Works Fund mobilized private, public, and philanthropic capital to transform public housing
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
“Protecting free and independent thought in the United States is going to take more than just one institution fighting back.” Let’s go. www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2025...
columbiaspectator.com
Into the breach
To my fellow Lions,
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Here in Virginia, because we don’t have many large commercial beekeepers or move our bees across state lines for pollination (at least the majority of VA beekeepers), we are thankfully somewhat insulated - for now. That could change but it’s crucial we stay ahead of this.
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
🚨🐝 extremely concerning letter, went out last night. U.S. commercial beekeepers are reporting catastrophic hive losses of 50-100%, worse than CCD days. Immediate economic impact of - $140M but will have a bigger, more profound impact on American food security in months ahead.
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
This matches, step by step, the playbook we’re witnessing from the White House and DOGE. The first half of this narrative is background and context of the ideology while the second half is the roadmap for implementation. Very disturbing. m.youtube.com/watch?v=5RpP...
m.youtube.com
DARK GOTHIC MAGA: How Tech Billionaires Plan to Destroy America
YouTube video by Blonde Politics | The Silly Serious
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
@marianabellmusic.bsky.social welcome to the land of non-suck. There is cheese and less Nazis.
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
@benstiller.redhour.com just wanted to say thank you for all your work with @unhcr.org and for standing with refugees. That’s all. Keep doing you Ben. 🙌
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Re-read U.S. Constitution of the United States, Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 (the Appropriations Clause) and Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 (the Taxing and Spending Clause). @kaine.senate.gov is Congress going to take them to court or what? www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/u...
nytimes.com
White House Budget Office Orders Pause in All Federal Loans and Grants
The full extent of the order was not immediately clear, but the directive sent to government agencies on Monday threatened to paralyze a vast swath of federal programs.
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
When you wear multiple hats…up early today to share our #netzero mead with customers. Mead for breakfast? #whateverittakes #entrepreneurship
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Will Yeates @wyeates.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
EU’s solar and wind growth pushes fossil-fuel power to lowest level in 40 years - Carbon Brief
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EU’s solar and wind growth pushes fossil-fuel power to lowest level in 40 years - Carbon Brief
Coal power use in the European Union (EU) has fallen by 61%, according to Carbon Brief analysis of new figures from energy analysts Ember.
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ian bremmer @ianbremmer.com · 23/01/2025
for the first time ever, solar power generation overtakes coal in the eu the change since 2011 is staggering (and will continue widening)
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
And because it’s been a grim week, I thought you might enjoy a picture of a friendly little reindeer I met while in the Arctic of Finland.
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
I wings just be writing about economic justice. I’ll also share how to brew, ferment, and drink it- in the form of the world’s most sustainable and mission-driven alcohol. Because we *might* need lots of this over the best few years.
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Oh, and if you did read that NYT piece about refugees’ immense net economic contributions to the U.S. economy and want more, hang with me here as I’m in the last mile of writing a new book w/ the brilliant Christine Mahoney called #BankingOnBelonging w Columbia U Press. Vive la résistance.
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Been fairly quiet on socials for a while as haven’t feel the fire to share content. Well, that was fun while it lasted. 2025 here we go..,
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
A question though- if US Federal agencies (like the EPA), under direction of the new admin, fail to distribute contractually obligated grants executed prior to Jan 20, and thus violate the terms of their contracts, will local orgs and institutions have to sue them to release funds? #realquestion
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
In other more positive news, a badass team of changemakers @uvabatten.bsky.social @uvawise.bsky.social and community and county partners secured a $20M grant from #EPA to advance #climate #resilience across #Appalachia. batten.virginia.edu/about/news/u...
batten.virginia.edu
UVA Batten Leads Major Appalachian Initiative Through a $20 Million Federal Grant
UVA Batten, under the guidance of Chief Innovation Officer Christine Mahoney, will facilitate a broad range of economic development and environmental resilience projects in Appalachia through a recent...
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Remember that time when the President commissioned a study of refugee economic impact on the U.S. and then tried to bury it after finding the net contribution was billions of $ in paid taxes and jobs created? Let’s revisit this little chestnut… #facts #refugees www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/u...
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Rejects Study Showing Positive Impact of Refugees (Published 2017)
A draft report by the Department of Health and Human Services contradicts a central argument made by advocates of deep cuts in refugees.
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