From Hopeless Immigrant to Business Success to Global Philanthropy: 2024 Inclusive Leader Award Winner for Foundations & Funders, Elijah Bach
Elijah Bach is a husband, father, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is a former Founder/CEO of a real estate investment/holdings firm for 20 years. Since retirement in 2020, his current interests include global philanthropy with a focus on helping parents to become better educated, supported, and engaged parents as they strive for their children’s future educational and professional success. His charitable foundation, Bach Family Foundation and Trust, Inc. currently works with the world’s leading research universities and think tanks to research how parental engagement plays a role in various areas of children’s development. It also works closely with dozens of school districts, government ministries, and international organizations, such as OECD, UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank, and World Health Organization to distribute the foundation’s resources to reach approximately 300 million parents and children worldwide.
Born in Seoul, Korea, Elijah began his American journey in Minnesota as a teenage son of a homeless immigrant single mother, and studied at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities as an undergraduate student, before getting other graduate degrees and executive certificates from Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. It is during these times that he became convinced that education, coupled with grit and a growth mindset, is the most critical ingredient for success. He also saw that his mother’s passion and dedication were not enough to create an ideal educational environment for her children. He observed that in addition to parents’ passion, they also need proper information and resources, which is what his foundation is trying to provide to every parent around the world.
Being inclusive is at the core of everything Elijah does at his foundation, especially when it comes to supporting and empowering parents. He believes that, within the diversity of family types and parenting styles globally, there is a universal common denominator that can bring all parents together – the fact that every parent, regardless of one’s cultural, educational, regional, religious, or socioeconomic background, wants their children to be happy and successful, every parent wants to be a good parent for their children, and every parent feels the need for proper guidance. Under his leadership, the foundation is intentional about including marginalized and underserved populations and communities in the discussion to see the whole perspective of any given issue when making decisions on the direction of the foundation’s support.
Elijah is truly grateful to be the recipient of the GlobalMindED’s Inclusive Leader Award this year and is hopeful that an honorable recognition such as this will raise further awareness of the importance of supporting and empowering parents who make the biggest impact on our children, as well as to build partnerships with other leaders and organizations to make stronger impact together.
Regardless of any accomplishments Elijah may or may not be making in the world, the legacy he hopes to leave behind is for his children to continue trying their best to help other people with whatever they may or may not have. He often reminds his children, “I may never make any difference in the world with the work I do at our family foundation, but I promise you that I will always try my best and never give up.”
