It’s a Wonderful Life.

We all feel that we are failures, at sometime in our lives. Things don’t work out, ideas or projects seem to fail in our eyes, or they take a lifetime to come to fruition. During that dark, seemingly hopeless period, it is imperative to keep the faith, eyes on the ball and keep tilling the soil. Shoots ultimately will come out.

Recently, my wife, Rieki,  experienced the ultimate Frank Capra “It’s a wonderful life” moment. My wife started a Hotel School in Bhutan, called the Bongde Institute for Hospitality and Tourism about 2 years ago.  She struggled continuously trying to get the school off the ground in a frontier market, with no funding, no infrastructure, no income, with continuous challenges and obstacles that she needed to overcome. Recently, she finally saw what she had created and what Jimmy Stewart felt like in It’s a Wonderful Life (Experiencing what would have happen if we didn’t exist).

To reward one of her best students, Kinley, Rieki decided to bring her to Amsterdam for an internship at a four star hotel in Amsterdam. This was the first time that Kinley was ever outstide of Bhutan. Kinley started working at the hotel and her work was exceptional. So exceptional, that one day a gentleman who was having a meal there, called her over and inquired about her background. He said “why is it that you are so good at your work in comparison with the rest of the food and beverage staff”. She said “I studied at the Bongde Institute of Hospitality and Tourism in Bhutan”. He said “WHAT. I want to meet the person who started that school”. A hotel school that trained its staff well and was based in Bhutan was quite a shock. It turns out that this man was a very successful hotelier, entrepreneur and had a large enterprise owning and operating 5 star hotels in Asia.

Rieki and the Hotelier met and he was overwhelmed by what Rieki had done and was planning to do next. He offered to take interns from her school, send equipment if needed, and wants to discuss collaboration on her hotel school in Bhutan, and potential hotel development in Bhutan. In addition, he was particularly interested in her next project. Building a working hotel school for the Governor of the Karen State in Myanmar to help the 100.000 refugees, and developing a culturally authentic and carbon neutral hospitality sector.

We are all an overnight success when we least expect it. Congrats Rieki and your Learning Exchange Foundation.

Sweden sets goal to phase out greenhouse gas emissions by 2045

Stockholm is the setting for our next TBLI CONFERENCE NORDIC 2017, Sept. 28-29. Come join us.

Support TBLI Foundation in building a Global Value(s) based Investment Community.

Impact and Hero

In keeping with a new tradition, I would like to highlight a true TBLI Hero. Dr. Rieki Crins is my best and dearest friend. She is the most authentic person I know and only follows her heart, which is massive. Throughout the early period of getting TBLI started and further developing our mission, she has been there every step of the way.

In 2007, we were holding our TBLI CONFERENCE ASIA in Bangkok. I had been ill for several months and no one could figure out why. Two days before leaving for Bangkok, I was diagnosed with endocarditis and had to be admitted to the hospital. The doctor said  I would have to stay for at least 6 weeks, perhaps up to 10 weeks to kill the infection, and then I would undergo surgery for a heart valve replacement. This was a major bodyblow to us all. Rieki had to go to Bangkok, with our 13 year old son, and run the entire event, while worrying if I would survive. She also had to find the funding to cover the costs of the conference venue on top of everything else. It was extremely tough on her and my son, but she took on the responsibility with grace, poise, class, tenacity and  leadership. I will never forget that, as most would never have been able to take on such a challenge and succeed.

It has often been a bumpy ride, as TBLI was trying to do what most didn’t want to do, change the financial system. Our mission has always been to create an inclusive values based economy, by highlighting the opportunities triple bottom line investing offers. Rieki has always worked with me at the coal face, and was instrumental in making TBLI a success and a household name. For that I am eternally grateful, as we all should be.  She doesn’t get the recognition that she richly deserves.  I would like to change that. Now, she is changing the hospitality sector through the launch of Bhutique
Hotel Group and the recently launched The Bongde Institute of Hospitality and Tourism (BhutanIMG_0010
 Hotel School). She will succeed.

I am proud and honoured to call her my friend, an inspiration, a genius, and a true TBLI Hero. Oh yes, a great animal lover. Thank you.

Come to TBLI CONFERENCE EUROPE 2015, in Zurich November 19-20 and meet Rieki and many other TBLI Heroes and Champions.

TBLI Publication:

Family Office Elite published an article I wrote on ESG and Impact Investing for its wealth holder readership. Thought you might enjoy it. How wealth holders can engage with clients on ESG and Impact Investing? page 109-110.

Bernanke and Gross National Happiness

Ben Bernanke, head of the Federal Reserve, gave a speech today on measurements of economic development. Surprisingly he mentioned Bhutan and its concept of Gross National Happiness.

“This line of research has generated alternative measures of well-being that are frequently survey-based and incorporate elements such as psychological wellness, the level of education, physical health and safety, community vitality and the strength of family and social ties, and time spent in leisure activities. These measures have begun to inform official statistics and have started to be discussed in policy debates. An interesting and unique case is the Kingdom of Bhutan, which abandoned tracking gross national product in 1972 in favor of its Gross National Happiness index based on a survey that incorporates these types of indicators.”….. for full article

Who knows maybe this is a start towards measuring other things than steel and concrete, like quality of life.