Our heart grows bigger when we see our investments improving the lives of others.
The Sumba Foundation
A philanthropic vehicle that continues to flourish as a result of a compelling interdependence we have financed since 2012.
After expanding Nihiwatu, a rustic surf camp into an award-winning, five-star travel destination, Nihi Sumba by Chris Burch is a sustainable operation in harmony with the environment and the Sumbanese people. The unique design of a non-profit working side by side with a for-profit business helps the Sumbanese prosper while preserving and respecting their cultural traditions.
Thanks to Burch’s generous support, a portion of Nihiwatu’s profits are repatriated into the Sumba Foundation, and all administrative costs are covered, allowing 100 percent of donations to go directly to the Foundation’s many projects that benefit the Sumbanese community.
The Foundation’s humanitarian aid philosophy is to help the Sumbanese help themselves by fostering community-based projects that impact health (including medical access and malaria control), nutrition, education, water, and income-generation. The Foundation has been incredibly impactful, and to date is responsible for setting up over 15 primary schools, 48 water wells and five medical clinics, supplied 172 villages with clean water, and reduced Malaria by 85% in affected villages.
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NYU Langone Patient-Centered Care Curriculum
It has been Chris Burch’s passion to champion projects that encourage empathy, compassion, and caring.
In 2014, a visit with Dr. Mark B. Pochapin, director of the division of Gastroenterology at NYU Langone, led to a discussion about patient care - specifically, the responsibility of physicians and other hospital staff to administer the entire patient experience with empathy.
That desire became a central tenant of NYU Langone’s clinical mission. Physicians would be provided proper training and resources for practicing the art of medicine, held in the same esteem as training them in the science of medicine.
This shared outlook, along with support from Burch, resulted in establishing the Patient-Centered Care Curriculum for NYU Langone faculty, developed by Dr. Pochapin, Elizabeth H. Weinshel, MD, and Sophie M. Balzora, MD. The curriculum consists of educational activities, including lectures, roundtables, and objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE).
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