KLABU vacancies

Where the Unbreakable Spirit Comes From

In 2004, something happened when Jan van Hövell, a young intern at the UN refugee agency UNHCR in Ghana, joined refugees in their football match. People came together in a moment of spirited joy, hope, and connection that stayed with him for a long time. After working in corporate law, he decided to leave his job in the private sector to make a lasting difference for the now more than 114 million refugees worldwide. Inspired by his experience, he successfully pitched his idea to UNHCR to bring relief, pride, and happiness to refugees through sport. The first KLABU sports club in Kenya is community-led, run by local residents and refugees who manage a library of sports equipment that people can borrow. Its success evolved into the idea of a clubhouse where people could gather. KLABU, meaning “club” in Swahili, was born.

Join the Largest

Today, KLABU has six clubhouses in Kenya, Bangladesh, Brazil, Greece, and the Netherlands, welcoming fifteen thousand participants each month. In 2024, two more will open, including one in Mauritania. Clubhouse by clubhouse, the organization is building the world’s largest sports club for people who don’t have one.

By 2030, KLABU aims to build fifty clubhouses, enabling more than two million young refugees to participate in sports. Their plans are funded through a unique business model. They combine a powerful social enterprise brand that sells sportswear inspired by the communities around the clubhouses with the KLABU Foundation, which builds and manages clubhouses worldwide. Half of the profits from sportswear sales go to the KLABU Foundation; the other half is reinvested in the brand to expand the organization’s impact.

Working at KLABU

The start-up operates from an office in the center of Amsterdam and offers opportunities to work on the ground in its clubhouses around the world. The international team of ten is friendly, highly driven, and enthusiastic, and regularly joins the workouts at the Amsterdam clubhouse. Every KLABU team member lives the organization’s mission and thrives on new ideas and innovative initiatives to turn KLABU’s ambitious plans into reality for refugees worldwide.