Bernard West, CEO of Banyan International

Industry: Global Education

Location: Dubai

Bernard is an education entrepreneur who has built leading schools in the U.S., Middle East and Asia. A passionate student of history, theology and international affairs, Bernard had been slowly cultivating a vision to build a school for the Kingdom of Bhutan - one that would not just be a school, but become a distinctly Bhutanese school that had the potential to shape the future of an entire generation, address issues of the future around world hunger and economic disparity, while answering the question of —“what do we want our country to be?” 

“At the Elea Summit in Paris, I found myself in a session about faith that was moderated by Elea’s cofounder Julie, and before the session about half the people looked up and kind of said, “Why am I here?” But those were the people that made the session. And they left thinking how grateful they were there.”

“In less than two months since the summit, I’ve met up with more than Elea members all over the world who are deeply interested in my Bhutan project. That’s how unique this community is. You walk into an Elea session, and an hour and a half later - the intimacy is really extraordinary. They are people who have achieved what most people think is success already, but these folks think there is so much to do, and that achievement is about others or about community or about the wider world. It’s not about them. It’s about something bigger.”

Inside Elea’s community of purpose-driven investors, entrepreneurs and leaders, the reimagining of education required to better prepare the next generation of children for the world is an issue close to the hearts of many of our members. Each week, members take it upon themselves to connect with each other on the worldchanging companies and entrepreneurs that they are funding and backing in fields including education, mental health and more.