Meet Our Founder, John Duong
Executive Leader | Strategic Advisor | Investor | Entrepreneur | Author
Driven, creative, and multifaceted investment and philanthropy executive, strategic advisor, entrepreneur, and Kauffman and Youn Fellow, John brings extensive experience at the intersection of finance, investing, and impact. He began his career as an investment banker on Wall Street, where he developed broad expertise in corporate finance, including debt and equity products, credit and loan syndication, equity research, capital markets, and mergers and acquisitions. Throughout his career, he has advised and partnered with organizations ranging from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies.
John has since leveraged this financial foundation in investment management and philanthropic leadership roles to drive meaningful social and economic impact through strategic investing. He thrives in complex and ambiguous environments, combining a results-oriented mindset with intellectual curiosity, lifelong learning, and unwavering integrity. As a leader and trusted advisor, John is passionate about empowering others, building strong partnerships, and helping organizations and individuals achieve long-term success.
- Email address bekind@kindcap.com
- Phone number (954)-KIND-ONE
About John
John launched Kind Capital to drive scalable, sustainable impact profitably. He was formerly the Managing Director and Founder of Lumina Impact Ventures, the $50M impact investing arm of Lumina Foundation focused on education technology investments. Previously, he was Program & Portfolio Officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, managing a $110M+ MRI and PRI investments portfolio across funds and direct investments, and making grants to further the field of impact investing.
John started his career as an investment banker at J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch in various roles including M&A advisory, credit risk analysis, equity research, capital structure optimization, and corporate finance in both debt and equity products. He has extensive for-profit and nonprofit board experience including Cell-Ed, Upswing, BrightHive, EduNav, Credly, Global Communities, Vitas Group, and AAPIP.
John earned his BA degree in Economics and East Asian Studies from Yale University and holds an Executive MBA, with a concentration in Management and Entrepreneurship, from the Kellogg School of Management. He is a Kauffman Fellow. Born in Cambodia, John immigrated to the U.S. at a young age. He and his parents are survivors of the Khmer Rouge concentration camp and were sponsored to the United States by the Catholic Sisters of St. Francis in La Crosse, WI, where he grew up.
- Philanthropy, Nonprofit and NGO
- Finance and Accounting
- Executive Leadership
- Coaching
