About us.
Our mission is simple: to share knowledge, build communities, and ensure heritage crafts flourish in the modern world
We founded Silk Road Impact as a non-profit to stand with the artisans who keep our traditions alive.
We design industry policies, benchmark best practice, and advise governments, companies, and NGOs across Asia and the Middle East.
And we spend our time on the ground — in Bukhara, Cairo, Yogyakarta, Kanazawa and beyond — working with artisans, policymakers, and non-profits to deliver real-world solutions.
BEN SIMPFENDORFER
CEO
Ben has spent 30 years living and working in the Silk Road countries. He is an Arabic and Mandarin speaker, as well as author of several books on the region, including “The New Silk Road” published in 2009.
Passionate about the region’s heritage crafts, he established Silk Road Impact to support the efforts of the many advocates across the region working tirelessly to revive the traditional craft industries.
He brings a multi-decade background as an entrepreneur, having founded the strategic advisory Silk Road Associates in 2010, as well senior roles for global consultancies and investment banks.