The YachtWorld Foundation has named longtime yachting industry leader Alex Braden a "YachtWorld Hero" for his work with his charity, Encompass.

Encompass was founded in 2003 as part of the Daniel Braden Reconciliation Trust. Daniel was Alex Braden's son, and was killed in a 2002 terrorist bombing in Bali. Braden created the trust in his son's honor. The goal is to bring together young people from different cultures, so they can learn to understand one another and avoid future incidents like the one in Bali. The charity originally organized Voyages of Understanding aboard tall ships and now creates Journeys of Understanding at land camps.

So far, Encompass has brought together more than 1,000 young people including Israelis, Palestinians, Indonesians, Americans, and British. The trust focuses on humanizing other people, putting faces and real beings behind the stereotypes that young people often learn in their own cultures.

“This whole ‘hero’ thing is totally over-the-top and a bit embarrassing,” Braden said in a press release, “but I am very grateful to the YachtWorld Foundation and their YachtWorld Hero program for helping bring more attention to Encompass and the work that we do. The more people know about our work and our goals the more I think we can make a difference. That is important to me, my family, and everyone we work with.”

Braden is the founder and former CEO of YPI Group, a leading yacht management and charter company based in Europe. My heartfelt congratulations to Braden on this award. It is well deserved.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/hide comment form