There are nearly 100 million forcibly displaced people in the world. Most governments treat them as a burden. John Kluge has spent years proving that they are one of the world's greatest untapped assets.

In this TBLI Talk, Robert Rubinstein sits down with John Kluge, founder of the Refugee Investment Network (RIN) — the first impact investing and blended finance collaborative dedicated to long-term solutions to forced migration. Launched on World Refugee Day 2019 at the Rockefeller Foundation, RIN has built a framework that connects capital to refugee-led and refugee-supporting ventures, advises governments and investors on refugee lens strategies, and is changing the narrative around one of the most politically charged and chronically underfunded challenges of our time. John's radical truth: the humanitarian aid system is both broke and broken. The only durable solution to forced migration is investment — in people, in businesses, and in the communities that host them.

In this episode:

• Why refugees are an asset, not a liability — and what the data on refugee entrepreneurship actually shows
• What the "Refugee Lens" investing framework is and how it helps investors identify, qualify, and measure impact for displaced communities
• What creative financial instruments RIN has developed to bridge the gap between humanitarian response and long-term economic inclusion
• How blended finance can unlock private capital for refugee-supporting ventures at scale
• What RIN's work in East Africa, Mexico, Jordan, and beyond reveals about building inclusive economies in displacement contexts
• What investors across the full capital continuum — from grant makers to institutional investors — can do to support refugee self-reliance

The key insight: Six years ago, John realised the humanitarian aid system was leaving behind millions of resilient, creative, entrepreneurial people with no path to pursue their potential. RIN was built to pick up where humanitarian response leaves off — and to prove that investing in refugees is not charity. It is smart economics.

⏱️ Episode Guide:

• 0:00 — Why the humanitarian aid model is failing refugees
• 0:X:XX — The Refugee Lens: a new framework for impact investing
• 0:X:XX — Refugees as entrepreneurs: the evidence
• 0:X:XX — Creative financial instruments for refugee inclusion
• 0:X:XX — How blended finance unlocks private capital at scale
• 0:X:XX — What investors can do now — across the full capital continuum

👤 About John KlugeJohn Kluge is a social entrepreneur and impact investor dedicated to building more sustainable, just, and inclusive economies. He is the founder and Senior Advisor of the Refugee Investment Network, the first impact investing and blended finance collaborative dedicated to long-term solutions to forced migration. Refugeeinvestments He is also co-founder and Managing Partner of the Alight Fund, an investment and financing company for refugee and host country entrepreneurs, and previously co-founded Eirene, a multi-family-office impact investing fund, and Toilet Hackers, a social enterprise scaling access to sanitation. Refugeeinvestments He is the co-author of Charity & Philanthropy for Dummies and holds a BA from Columbia University and an MBA from Babson College. Refugeeinvestments

For anyone working in impact investing, forced migration, blended finance, or inclusive economic development — this episode is essential listening.

ABOUT TBLI RADICAL TRUTHReal experience. Real results. No greenwashing. TBLI Group is the world's leading ESG and impact investing network — educating, advising, and connecting investors for 25 years.🌐 tbligroup.com