205: Henk Rogers

Henk Rogers is on a mission. Several missions, actually, and each one is as bold and audacious as the next.  When we explore space, Henk wants to take nature with us. It’s just one of the many goals that Henk has set out to accomplish, and there’s plenty of reason to believe he’s going to, based on his previous work within the space industry, his companies and non-profit organizations.  Listen for big ideas and clear missions presented in this insightful conversation with Henk Rogers. About Henk:  Henk Rogers is the President of the Tetris Company and a pioneer in the video game industry. In the 1980s, Rogers brought role-playing games to Japan and turned a little-known game called Tetris into an international phenomenon after intense negotiations with the Soviet Union and Nintendo. His efforts helped establish the Game Boy as a market leader and made Tetris one of the most popular games of all time. Rogers’ story became folklore in the gaming industry and is the subject of the 2023 Apple TV+ film “Tetris.” Today, Rogers is the founder of 10 companies and non-profit organizations focused on renewable energy, space exploration, and ending the use of fossil fuels on Earth. A near-fatal heart attack in 2005 made Rogers identify his true missions in life and led to him founding the Blue Planet Foundation, a non-profit organization that has been instrumental in implementing renewable energy policies in Hawaii. Realizing this model needed to be exported to the rest of the world, Rogers founded the Blue Planet Alliance, an organization helping island communities disproportionately affected by climate change transition from being reliant on importing fossil fuels to using 100 percent renewable energy. Rogers is also the founder of Blue Planet Energy, a global leader in renewable energy storage systems, and the International Moonbase Alliance, an organization with the goal to build sustainable settlements on the Moon and Mars and establish Hawaii as a leader in the space industry. Today, Rogers continues to be an influential figure in both the gaming industry and the sustainable energy sector. He has received numerous awards for his contributions to both fields, including being inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ Hall of Fame in 2008 and named CEO of the Year by Hawaii Business Magazine in 2015. He currently lives between his off-grid ranch in Hawaii and New York City and continues to be an active entrepreneur pursuing his passion for making a positive impact on the world. Follow Henk Rogers  https://henkrogers.com/  Get tickets now for the Casual Space Podcast LIVE November 12 event “Returning to the Moon” www.bethmund.com/events