GEORGE BASCH

OUR FOUNDER

In the summer of 1959, on a 10,000 km Vespa Motor Scooter journey through Europe I was in the cemetery in Zermatt, Switzerland and saw a tombstone of a young climber that had died on the Matterhorn. “Youth Must be Served” it said.

“What would I want my headstone to say?” I asked rhetorically. The answer came in a flash “He Made a Difference”. Later, after I was married and had kids & responsibilities I became a bit more realistic and added the precondition to take care of my physical, mental and financial health and that of my family and others to whom I had obligations.

Over the decades of my life, I’ve acquired broad ranging experiences and expertise through education (a BSME from MIT, and an MBA), the school of hard knocks, making mistakes, vowing to make NEW mistakes (no ground-hog day for me). 

My entire life of exploration (physical travel, interest in global problems and issues, insatiable curiosity) have provided solid foundations of my interests and character. Some business successes and failures, going bankrupt, personal failures, the death of my two biological children, deciding very consciously to NOT commit suicide. All of these experiences have shaped me.

The one constant that remains is a desire to help others, and “make a difference”, which I’ve done by serving on various boards (school, hospital, drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers) and through Rotary – our motto is “Service Above Self”. 

In 2010 I founded the Himalayan Stove Project and in the ensuing 10 years we transformed the lives of over 50,000 people in Nepal, and made a measurable improvement in air quality. The project became a “Covid Victim” in 2020.

Rather than just retire, I pivoted and formed Champions of the Planet because I felt that one aspect of solving the #globalwarming crisis wasn’t being adequately addressed; what can people do as individuals and families to help stop this crisis. I thought “I can start the conversation and motivate many others to take action, and provide the knowledge and the tools so that they can do that effectively and intelligently. I felt I could make a difference, on my own, and with others.