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John Kluge

@klugesan.bsky.social
166 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 · 30/08/2026
His record speaks for itself. let him spend money reminding voters how much he’s destroying our country, selling off our natural resources and public parks to the highest bidder, depleting our defenses and weakening our military, ballooning our national debt, & picking fights with our close allies.
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Fair, but our mountains are far older and are also the same mountains that you’ll find in the north of Scotland. So there’s that.
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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
So because I wanted our company to get better at centering nature in our work and hope to help other companies do the same, I built a framework for this gap called “The Tree”🌳. Full paper below. 3/3 #nature #business #socent open.substack.com/pub/klugesan...
open.substack.com
The Way of Nature
A framework for putting Earth at the heart of business and capital (working paper)
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
That question is what led to this. I coded 122 companies that pledge 1% of sales to environmental causes. 84% showed no sign of any nature practice beyond the pledge itself. #nature #business 2/3
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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
We are reminded that it is the duty of us all to carry the work of welcome forward— that the ideals we celebrate today are only as strong as our resolve to protect them. Happy Fourth. Happy 250th. May we stay worthy of the dream.🗽🇺🇸🎆 #july4 #nationofimmigrants #usa
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
There is no more fitting way to honor the promise of the Declaration than to watch it renewed by people who chose it. This is the America we love: not a finished thing, but a living covenant—generous, welcoming, and endlessly enriched by the people who come to build a life here.
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Algeria, Congo, Guatemala, Iraq, Nepal, Syria, Ukraine, and dozens more, each name a whole story of courage, sacrifice, and hope, now woven into the fabric of this country.
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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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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Similar sentiments to the Madison take I just posted. It’s in the aether!
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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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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Cheers Niamh 🙏
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Exactly why we argue that cities, businesses, and communities alike all do best when we put belonging at the center of our economies! www.bankingonbelonging.com
bankingonbelonging.com
Home | BelongingBook
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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
I know a number of top-notch organizations that are doing incredibly important and meaningful work around the world, but are very much struggling in their hiring searches because of their low offer offering packages.
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
That depends entirely on a number of factors including cost of living, experience, location, etc. I think this mindset is one of scarcity not of abundance and I think it puts the sector at a disadvantage in attracting the best talent it could.
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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 · 26/06/2026
But why? Most people would not say the same thing in the private sector. So why should high-performing people be discounted for their performance just because they work at an organization that provides tax benefits to its donors?
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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
Thank you! Good to be back :)
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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
Big things are coming at Montpelier as we near the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence & set a 10-yr course to celebrate the Constitution’s 250th! Stay tuned for bold plans to honor Madison’s legacy & strengthen our democracy. #Montpelier250 #Constitution
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
As a new board member, I’m deeply committed to protecting our constitutional democracy. Montpelier’s mission to educate and engage is more critical than ever. Let’s uphold Madison’s principles and ensure a thriving republic. #DefendDemocracy #Montpelier
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John Kluge @klugesan.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
Together, we’ll inspire new generations to embrace Madison’s vision of liberty, justice, and self-governance. The work ahead is vital, and I’m optimistic about our impact. #ConstitutionalDemocracy #Montpelier
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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 · 09/04/2025
Truth!
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