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Investing with a “Refugee Lens”: Private Capital Creates New Opportunities for Refugees
June 30, 2022
RIN joined panelists at The Smart Communities Coalition’s (SCC) 5th Annual Meeting, where one theme resonated: there is a strong economic case for refugees, who present a large untapped market as productive members of their host communities and would benefit from tailored services, not just humanitarian aid.
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A Letter From RIN’s Founder
April 4, 2022
John Kluge shares news about his transition, reflections on RIN’s progress over the past four years, and hopes for the road ahead.
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RIN and Acumen Partner to Spur Refugee Lens Investing in the Greater Horn of Africa
December 3, 2021
RIN and Acumen have partnered with the IKEA Foundation, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to build the field for refugee lens investing in the Greater Horn of Africa. The partnership will develop an evidence base to mobilize finance and explore how catalytic capital can advance climate resilience, refugee self-reliance, and social cohesion between those displaced and their hosting communities.
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Impact investors step up to the migration challenge in Central America
July 2, 2021
As the US government and private sector accelerate the flow of capital towards migration challenges, impact investment models like the refugee lens are critical to deploying that capital in ways that will boost local economies from the ground-up. RIN spoke to ImpactAlpha about its work in Latin America and trends in investors seeking out migration-focused solutions.
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ICONIQ Impact Award Grants Over $24M to Create Long-Term Transformational Change for Refugees
May 4, 2021
Lever for Change and ICONIQ Impact announced that the Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award, a competition to secure a brighter, more durable future for refugees globally, has successfully raised $24.25 million in funding to distribute to five finalist organizations dedicated to improving the lives of refugees around the world. The award sponsors have selected the Resourcing Refugee Leadership Initiative as the recipient of their $10 million award.
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UNCDF Announces New Partnerships to Advance Financial Services for Migrants and Their Families
April 28, 2021
The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) announced their global portfolio of partnerships to improve financial services for migrants and their families. These new private sector partners have collectively committed $1.32 million towards migrant-centric product development.
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Biden Pushes U.S.—and the World—to Help Climate Migrants
February 24, 2021
A growing number of migrants are forced from their homes each day by climate change, and President Biden signaled last week that he wants the United States and the world to pay more attention to the problem.
The changes under consideration could far surpass current international practices, experts said—potentially vaulting the United States to global climate leadership after President Trump spent four years dismantling the United States’ capacity for both climate action and refugee resettlement.
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Ban on New Foreign Workers Left U.S. Jobs Unfilled, Even in Covid Downturn
February 16, 2021
The U.S. closed the door to nearly all incoming foreign workers last year. The causes were Covid-19 restrictions that locked global borders and Trump administration policies that drastically reduced work visas, with the exception of farmworkers. The effect was an unexpected experiment in one of the country’s most hotly debated issues—the relationship between the labor market and immigration.
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UVA Honors RIN Fellow Christine Mahoney
February 4, 2021
RIN fellow Christine Mahoney is honored by the University of Virginia with a Public Impact-Focused Research Award for her work supporting the rights of displaced people locally, nationally and globally.
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Charlottesville-founded Refugee Investment Network looks ahead to the new year & new Administration
December 22, 2020
2021 is set to be a year of transition — from the rollout of a COVID-19 vaccination to coping with the pandemic’s lingering impacts to a new presidential administration. For the Refugee Investment Network — founded by local entrepreneur and activist John Kluge — the organization is gearing up to expand its mission of inserting a refugee-oriented lens into investments.
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RIN-CEO Social Impact Fund Closes $1.5M Raise
December 7, 2020
The RIN-CEO Social Impact Fund (SIF) closed a $1.5M raise in October, reaching its initial target. The SIF was launched in partnership with the International Rescue Committee’s Center for Economic Opportunity (IRC-CEO) to offer impact investors a unique opportunity to secure a concessional rate of return while directly supporting financial inclusion for hundreds of refugees across the United States.
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Refugee investments provide blueprints for Biden’s reset on immigration
December 1, 2020
As the Trump administration was building walls and new restrictions, impact investors and innovative humanitarians were creating a marketplace of financing solutions for migrants and refugees.
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Refugee Entrepreneurs Face a Different Kind of Survival
July 8, 2020
Karma Impact covers RIN’s efforts to support refugee entrepreneurs during COVID-19 through the Refugee Entrepreneurs COVID-19 Resilience (RECOVR) Fund. The RECOVR Fund will deploy emergency cash grants to hundreds of refugee-led enterprises that are most acutely affected by the pandemic and the related economic downturn.
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Supporting Refugee Lives and Livelihoods during COVID-19
June 9, 2020
RIN Co-Managing Director Tim Docking shares the findings of a RIN survey on the needs of refugee entrepreneurs in COVID-19, and why it is critical to continue supporting refugees’ self-reliance through a time of crisis.
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Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement Literature Review Update
June 4, 2020
The World Bank-UNHCR Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement draws on RIN’s Refugee Opportunity Index (ROI) Literature Review for their latest update.
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NYU Team Wins Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge Using Refugee Investing Lens
April 21, 2020
A team of NYU grad students adapted RIN’s refugee investing lens to design the first Refugee Exchange-Traded Fund, winning the 2020 Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge.
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The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network (TERN) Hosts Christmas Pop-up and Investor Showcase
December 20, 2019
TERN hosted a Christmas pop-up event in London alongside their first investor showcase. Watch the full BBC report here.
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Refugee Opportunity Index (ROI) Expert Panel Summary
December 16, 2019
RIN and the Economist Intelligence Unit convened a panel of experts to advise on the development of an indicator framework for the ROI.
Read the full meeting summary here.
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The new ROI: The Refugee Opportunity Index
July 9, 2019
In partnership with the Economist Intelligence Unit, the RIN is proud to announce the Refugee Opportunity Index. The ROI will shine a light on policy shortcomings and serve as a tool to incentivize policy reforms that support refugee economic integration and inclusive growth.
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Mobilizing private capital to back solutions to the migration crisis in Latin America
July 2, 2019
This Impact Alpha article, written by Fabiola Salman, Marcos Paya, and Sylvia Warren from Dalberg Advisors details the opportunities for individuals, investors, and governments to collaborate to find solutions to the migration crisis in Latin America. With case studies focused on Mexico, the Northern Triangle and Venezuela, the article examines the innovative enterprises and financial tools being used to improve the livelihoods of thousands of displaced people.
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Why This Bay Area University Is Supporting Refugee Business
July 2, 2019
This Forbes interview with Thane Kreiner of the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University details the ways that the RIN works with incubators and accelerators to build the field of refugee investing. The Miller Center has a dedicated program for refugee entrepreneurs and is planning to have a second cohort of entrepreneurs in the near future.
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Refugee lens investing arrives
July 1, 2019
This Euromoney feature on the RIN’s launch details the organizations initiatives, along with the work of its partners to find sustainable and durable solutions to the crisis of forced migration. RIN founder John Kluge is interviewed to discuss the Refugee Lens, as are Lev Plaves from Kiva and Kasra Movahedi from IRC’s Center for Economic Opportunity.
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Project Understanding: The global refugee crisis
June 26, 2019
In this special report, Ipsos contributes to building a better global understanding of the benefits of welcoming refugees. Managing Directors John Kluge and Tim Docking co-author a chapter on Refugee Investing in this report on private sector involvement in solutions to global forced migration.
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Displacement urgency draws private finance fix
June 24, 2019
This Asia Times article outlines the application of private capital market tools to address funding shortfalls recommended under the new United Nations Global Compact for Refugees.
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Growing investor interest in solutions for, and by, refugees
June 24, 2019
ImpactAlpha details the RIN’s efforts to match investable refugee-focused funds and ventures with investors. “Investors are already participating in refugee and migration deals,” John Kluge of the Refugee Investment Network told ImpactAlpha. “What is new and what is changing is that there are increasingly more investors doing this by design and intent.”
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Refugee Investment Network launches to connect investors and refugee entrepreneurs
June 20, 2019
On World Refugee Day, RIN gathers investors, entrepreneurs, humanitarian leaders, and donors to bridge the gap between capital and refugee-owned or -supporting ventures.
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Learning to Run
June 19, 2019
NeedsList and the RIN launch multi-sector campaign highlighting how the private sector, academia, and individual citizens can stand with refugees. Read more about how you can get involved.
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Work not handouts: Entrepreneurs reboot image of refugees
June 6, 2019
This Reuters article illustrates the desire of refugees to build lives and redefine the perception of refugees through entrepreneurship. RIN Managing Director Tim Docking, featured in the article, adds “this is a very entrepreneurial, hardworking, gritty group of folks who want to work, versus get handouts, and need investment capital to get going.”
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Private Sector and Refugees: Pathways to scale
May 12, 2019
Worldwide, nearly 70 million people have been forcibly displaced. The need for long-term, sustainable solutions to uplift refugees and support their host communities has never been more acute. This new study from Bridgespan and the International Finance Corporation explores five ways the private sector can help and features the RIN’s framework for defining, qualifying, and targeting refugee investments.
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Initiative for Inclusive Investment in Mexico (3IM) announced
April 29, 2019
3IM is a new cross-sector, cross-border partnership that will attract long-term strategic growth capital for investments in Mexico through the inclusion of displaced people in economic development projects. 3IM will foster new venture creation and the expansion of employment, workforce development, and skills matching to create thousands of jobs and enrich the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Mexico while also reducing unemployment and displacement.
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New network boosts field of refugee investing
March 4, 2019
As Devex reports, most investors don’t see refugees as bankable or investable, but that’s something the Refugee Investment Network wants to change. A record 68.5 million people are forcibly displaced, both within their countries or across borders, and those numbers are likely to rise. The team behind RIN said their goal is to change the narrative around refugees, from a burden on society to an economic opportunity, and to drive more impact investment and blended finance deals toward long-term solutions to global forced migration.
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70M people are counting on this social entrepreneur to succeed
February 22, 2019
Forbes’ Devin Thorpe interviews John Kluge, founder and managing director of the Refugee Investment Network, about the importance of refugee investments. “If you’re displaced for decades and you are not allowed to work and not allowed to move freely (as is the case for millions of refugees and displaced people around the world), you are not living. You are surviving,” Kluge says, noting that he sees this as a social justice issue.
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The new era of refugee investing
January 14, 2019
RIN Managing Directors, John Kluge and Tim Docking, co-authored an article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review on how investment can unlock the potential of refugees and help propel economic development.
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How investors can unlock the potential of refugee entrepreneurs
December 18, 2018
RIN Managing Directors, John Kluge and Tim Docking, shed light on how the private sector can change the narrative surrounding refugees. The RIN’s recently released report, “Paradigm Shift: How investment can unlock the potential of refugees” illustrates the massive and urgent need for private capital to help mitigate the refugee crisis. Perhaps more importantly, however, it highlights a growing, sustainable opportunity for investors to engage.
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Media titan’s son paves path to profit for refugee entrepreneurs
November 21, 2018
Bloomberg interviews John Kluge, Refugee Investment Network founder, about the refugee investment space. John Kluge and his team seek to mobilize $1 billion by 2030 for investments in refugee-led and refugee-supporting businesses to benefit forcibly displaced communities.
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Banking on refugees
October 26, 2018
A recent report from the new Refugee Investment Network defines what ought to qualify as a refugee investment – in terms of ownership, impact, or management. RIN describes itself as a groundbreaking “impact investing and blended finance collaborative”. Its study gets ahead of controversial clichés like entrepreneurial refugees to analyze what a range of market players deem investable and what type of connective tissue is needed.
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Growing community of investors steer capital to refugee solutions
October 25, 2018
The 70 million forcibly displaced people around the world represent a growing global challenge. But behind the images of border conflicts and crowded camps, a new narrative is emerging: Refugees as resilient, employable, credit-worthy and, increasingly, investable.
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New Refugee Investment Network announced
October 25, 2018
The Refugee Investment Network (RIN) was announced today as the first impact investing and blended finance collaborative dedicated to creating sustainable solutions to global forced migration. The RIN aims to prove that refugees are investable, and will help to move capital from the sidelines into sustainable refugee investments.
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SOCAP18: A Conversation with John Kluge and Tim Docking
August 11, 2018
John Kluge and Tim Docking believe that the key to unlocking innovative solutions that help refugees is increased capital investment. Their organization, the Refugee Investment Network (RIN), is the first blended finance investment collaborative dedicated to creating long-term solutions to global forced migration.
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RIN featured at the Third Vatican Conference on Impact Investing
July 10, 2018
At the Third Vatican Conference on Impact Investing in Rome this week, refugees and migrants were top of mind both on the panels and in the halls. As with much of the conference discussion, Catholic teachings and the words of Pope Francis were intertwined with talk of investment vehicles and risk and return metrics.
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Entrepreneurs and investors mobilize to tackle challenges of refugees
May 23, 2018
ImpactAlpha features the emerging ecosystem beginning to move capital for people on the move. Where others see refugees and other migrants as liabilities, a growing group of investors and entrepreneurs see assets: customers, talent and next-gen leaders.
