Chris Bashinelli

Chris Bashinelli, also known as, “Bash”, was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. After a decade long acting career including an appearance on the HBO hit television show, The Sopranos, Bash decided to follow his real passion – using media to build bridges between cultures. In his early 20’s, he became one of the youngest Moderators at the United Nations and made a documentary about his journey to Tanzania. He now traverses the globe from Uganda to Haiti, as host of “Bridge the Gap,” a television series featured on PBS and the National Geographic Channel, where he discovers what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes.

Of Lebanese and Italian descent, Bash knows what it takes to live in a diverse world. He has harvested buffalo with Native Americans in Pine Ridge, lived with nomads in Mongolia, and Sumo Wrestled the heaviest Japanese human being in recorded history. He is a United Nations Moderator, an Eagle Scout, a National Geographic Explorer, and has interviewed some of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People on the Planet.

Bash has spoken around the world – from TEDx, to Abu Dhabi, to Azerbaijan – at multi-million dollar corporations, Ivy League Universities, and in the United Nations General Assembly Hall. He has shared the stage with Stevie Wonder, Dr. Jane Goodall and former United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.

The idea for “Bridge the Gap” spawned in 2007. It was the dawn of the era of the mindless reality television program, the kind that not only breeds gossip and judgment, but also serves to divide human beings against each other. It was also a time of immense suffering for people throughout our world, though when is it not? After appearing on The Sopranos (HBO), Chris traveled to Tanzania to experience life in another part of the world firsthand. Inspired by the people he met in East Africa, Chris returned to the USA with one mission- to use media to bridge the immense inner and outer gaps between people and cultures.

“From Haiti to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, I have met countless individuals living in incredibly difficult external conditions who are often more content and inspired than people I know in far more “better off” conditions. The common thread many of these individuals share is their concern for others, often even above their own welfare. Through these experiences I am reminded that happiness is a state of mind, not a state of the external world. Perhaps by walking in other people’s shoes and gaining a glimpse into their experience, we can tap into a deeper wisdom that will inspire each of us to live more conscious lives and reach our full potential.”– Chris Bashinelli