Meeting with: Luke Beer, President, Rotary Club of Dupont Circle, Washington DC.

Introduction: Luke Beer

President, Rotary Club of Dupont Circle, Washington DC.

Past President & Founding Member Rotary Club of Kabul City.

Luke Beer, a native of Barrie, Canada, (where his grandfather was a lifelong Rotarian) went to Nasik, India as a Rotary International Youth Exchange Student in 2000. That experience spurred his international interest and led to him to study Russian and Eurasian Studies and an eventual internship at the Afghan Embassy in Ottawa.

In 2012, he started in Kabul managing a small Afghan owned development firm and later the country office of ANHAM logistics, the provider of food life support to the US military in Afghanistan. Thereafter he was the Operations Manager for an Afghan agricultural company that employed 100 employees, who daily provided 40 tonnes of Afghan produced fruits and vegetables to the United States military in Afghanistan. This was a first of its kind project for the US military. With RC Kabul City, the club supported Polio messaging, foreign scholarship sponsorships and a culture of volunteerism.

Luke is now married to his Californian bride Melinda, whom he met at the Canadian Embassy, Kabul during a social event in 2017 – a foretelling experience since she is now a US Foreign Service officer with USAID. Luke will thus embark on a life as a travelling spouse, still passionate about agriculture, pointing out the animals along the way to their daughter, Violet.  Luke speaks English and French, as well as conversational Dari at Afghan police check points when required. He loves Hereford cattle, fishing & hunting, scuba diving, travel books and any museum, on any topic that is open.