60 Years Robert Bosch Stiftung: A grant led to a move, a marriage, and a new organization

A life-changing situation is something you rarely come across. In Benjamin Lorch's case, it was his first contact with the Robert Bosch Stiftung. Participation in the Young American Leaders program resettled him in another part of the world, introduced him to his future wife, provided him with unforgettable memories, and culminated in the founding of the Berlin School of Podcasting.

This school teaches the art and technology of digital audio storytelling. It offers online programs, professional development courses, the Episode One Summer School, or a week-long program for first-time podcasters. Students come from all over the world and include artists, social justice activists, leadership coaches, community organizers, and more.
 

At what stage of your life were you when you received your grant from the Robert Bosch Stiftung?

When I was selected in 2006, I was 34 years old and working at the University of Chicago. I had completed my master's degree in Social Sciences and was ready for a new chapter. I had spent a total of 10 years on campus, working and studying, and my bachelor days were coming to an end – friends were getting married, getting their PhDs, moving away. I would be leaving Chicago as well, the concrete prairie by the lake that had given me so much.

How did the grant affect your future path?

The fellowship completely shaped everything that followed in my life. When I left Chicago, I never looked back. When I arrived in Berlin, there was an open landscape of opportunities to build new educational programs and international exchange programs - which I did. It probably would not have happened in the United States. Eventually, I would use those skills and experiences to build the Berlin School of Podcasting.

Although the United States is full of cultures, and I had worked across many borders, it was in Europe that I began to better understand what happens when cultures mix, creolize, and clash. I also began to see the history of the United States in a new way. And I better understood the forces that played a role in my upbringing. I found new ways to see and felt new ways to be seen and heard.

I am forever grateful to the Bosch Foundation.

Afterwards, attending the iac Berlin sponsored "New York City – Capital of Podcastng Program" in November 2017 supercharged my entry into podcasting. Upon return, fellow Bosch Alumni Yannic Hannebohn and Jelena Prtoric and I produced the “Step One Podcast” which featured stories about people from the Bosch Alumni Network who were striving to change their world – our world.

Is there an experience from the grant / program that you will never forget?

The distinctive smell of everything, including East German bureaucratic buildings.

Working for two of the most powerful and influential German advertising executives in Berlin at the same time. It was stressful, but I learned multitudes just being by their side.

Meeting my future wife on a train from Cologne.

Being offered the opportunity to join a small machismo cult while looking for an apartment in Bonn. I said no.

Speaking so much German, a language new to me, that my face ached at the end of long days in language classes.

Serving Passover to family friend and artificial intelligence pioneer, Prof. Dr. Joseph Weizenbaum. His wicked sense of humor and gracious compliments on my future wife's homemade gefilte fish.

Many late nights that turned into dawn.

Walking down the steps of the Schoenberg City Hall where Kennedy spoke in Berlin in 1963, having my citizenship certificate turned into a passport and identity card, and thinking of my Hessian grandparents who fled in 1936, and my Massachusetts grandfather who worked at the Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston.

The many amazing seminars and the dedication and professionalism of the Bosch Stiftung staff.

What place(s) has your program taken you?

So many places. So many faces. So many spaces. So many roads. And, Thailand.

What program did you participate in?

Robert Bosch Foundation Program for Young American Leaders, 2006-2007

Picture © Adam Klein

More of these personal impact stories will follow in the coming weeks - showing how the initial support of the Robert Bosch Stiftung helped someone on their future path. Stay tuned!

For more inspiration around the anniversary, keep an eye out for #boschstiftung60 on LinkedIn or Instagram.