Chris Bashinelli, better known as “Bash”, was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York to Lebanese and Italian-American parents. His world-view was shaped on his childhood “Stoop” where his friends shared a combined total of 13 nationalities. After a decade-long acting career including an appearance on the hit HBO TV show, The Sopranos, Bash traded the red carpet for the road, launching Bridge the Gap, a global travel series featured on PBS and the National Geographic Channel, were he experience’s life in countless cultures around the world.

As a National Geographic Explorer Bash fully embeds himself within cultures to gain insights into the nature of connection and happiness from the inside out. He shares those realizations everywhere from Fortune 500 Companies, to inside prison walls, to the United Nations General Assembly Hall. His fully immersive approach to connection has granted him unprecedented access to people and cultures around the world – rewarding him with lifelong trust of Ugandan mystics, Mongolian herdsman, suicide prevention activists on the Pine Ridge Reservation and some of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People on the Planet.

Bash has shared the stage with luminaries like Stevie Wonder and Michael Douglas, and at just 24, became the youngest man ever to moderate the United Nations International Day of Peace. His work has been featured in Delta Sky Magazine, Lonely Planet, Huffington Post, and The Daily News Zimbabwe. He’s also an Eagle Scout and guest host on the Be Here Now podcast network. His ancestors immigrated to the United States from Lebanon, through Ellis Island. In a world hungry for meaning and connection, Chris Bashinelli delivers – with heart, humor, and an unwavering belief in our shared humanity.