Hanna Jaff Bosdet

Philanthropist, human rights activist, speaker, and author Hanna Jaff Bosdet is set to start in Netflix's first Mexican reality series Made in Mexico, which will showcase nine of Mexico City's wealthy socialites, revealing their opulent lifestyles throughout the culturally vibrant city. The series debuts on the streaming service on September 28th.

Hanna was born in San Diego to a Mexican (Catholic) mother and a Kurdish (Muslim) father and learned from a young age about bias and discrimination; in many cultures it is not socially ideal to be either Mexican or Muslim, and she is both. Growing up with parents who love and respect each other despite their cultural differences, Hanna knew these biases were wrong, and she decided to change the misconceptions people have, while also helping refugees and immigrants who lack proper resources and educational tools. Her first step was to educate herself, something she dove head first into, receiving a master’s degree in International Relations from Harvard University, and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from National University (California).

She also studied at Columbia University in New York, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Monterrey, and La Sorbonne University of Paris. She traveled the world, meeting and connecting with immigrants and refugees to see firsthand what resources they were lacking. Whether she was in Iraq, Mexico, India or beyond, the biggest lesson she learned was they longed to learn English - one of the most universal languages - so they can communicate better with the outside world.

In 2013 at the age of just 25, Hanna created her own non-profit, the Jaff Foundation for Education. Their mission is to teach English to immigrants, refugees, and the less fortunate, launch nondiscrimination campaigns, and aim their attention on world peace and education. Through her foundation, Hanna has authored three English-learning books and volunteers at refugee camps, where she teaches English and has donated 22,000 of her books to immigrants, refugees, and the less fortunate in Peru, Kurdistan, Iraq, Mexico, India, and worldwide. In the past five years the foundation has grown exponentially, having hosted more than 200 charity events worldwide, benefiting more than 120,000 people. Today, the foundation has more than 7,000 active volunteers.

Hanna speaks at international conferences on topics such as human rights, immigrants, refugees, peace, and the importance of education, mainly to raise awareness and motivation. Hanna has been a speaker in over 70 universities, schools, and institutions around the world. In 2017, she was twice a TED speaker at TEDx Nishtiman in Erbil, Iraq and TEDx Ciudad de Puebla in San Andres Cholula, Mexico.

In addition to her own foundation, Hanna has been active in many other initiatives and non-discrimination campaigns aimed at bringing peace and teaching people on a global scale to respect one another’s race, skin color, national origin, gender, disability, religion, sexual orientation, social class, political views, and age. She organized the first “Kurdish Festival” in Mexico, the biggest one ever held outside Kurdistan, attended by 80,000 people in four days. She also conducted a We Are One campaign in support of war victims in the Middle East. Her projects promote tolerance and public awareness about eliminating hatred.

Philanthropy, when I am doing good and working at my NGO it’s exactly what I want to do and the causes I believe in. Because a job is a job, you must follow what the job tells you to do."

Her great humanitarian and activism work have also garnered her many accolades and awards. Entrepreneur (Mexico) named her one of their “30 Under 30 Successful Mexicans” in 2016. That same year she was recognized at the St. Gallen Symposium (Switzerland) as one of the “200 Leaders of Tomorrow Under 30”. Other honors include: “Philanthropist of the Year”(Groupo Sexenio), “5 Women Transforming Mexico” (Nivel Uno Magazine), named one of the “50 Most Admirable Mexican Women” (CARAS Magazine), one of the “15 Most Influential People in Politics in Mexico” (Reforma Newspaper), and awards in philanthropy, women’s empowerment, leadership, and academic achievements by the Kurdistan Garmiyan Regional Government.

I had the thrilling opportunity to visit with this influential and compassionate young woman and am delighted to share our conversation. Like me, you’ll hopefully come away inspired and influenced, in many positive directions.

William Jackson: When have you felt the most tested?

Hanna Jaff Bosdet: When I graduated from my master’s program, I moved to Mexico City and wanted to have a chance to work in politics. It was what I studied and my dream. I didn’t know anyone in the field. I visited every government institution and left my academic resume but had no work experience or contacts. Most places I couldn’t even walk through the front door, and I was always asked who I was, my last name, and who referred me. In the beginning, I lived through many obstacles and discrimination. It’s very difficult when you have no friends or family in the city, but what finally opened the doors for me was my education, my academic resume. I finally got one call for an interview, from the ruling party and got a job. My first job was Undersecretary of Immigrants in the ruling party. It was an opportunity to work with immigrants, a field I’m so passionate about. Therefore, I support education so much. Education was what opened the doors to me, it earned me the opportunity to work where I wanted to work, and later went on to have other job titles.

William: What allows you to stand in your truth and find your own way?

Hanna: Philanthropy, when I’m doing good and working at my NGO it’s exactly what I want to do and the causes I believe in. Because a job is a job, you must follow what the job tells you to do. But in this case, Jaff Foundation is what I stand for. Jaff Foundation for Education is a nonprofit organization focused on world peace and education that works toward helping refugees, immigrants, and the less fortunate by donating self-taught English learning books, and campaigning against discrimination on political views, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, skin color, gender, disabilities, socioeconomic status, and cultural differences.

William: What is the ultimate power of hope?

Hanna: Knowing many people have a better life because you exist. Hope is charity and peace. Hope has power to fill our lives with happiness.

William: What are the benefits of laughter?

Hanna: Laughter improves mental and emotional health. Laughter lifts our spirits and eliminates worry.

William: Would you say images and experiences can be life changing? If so, how?

Hanna: Experiences are what give our life meaning. Charity work is a path that makes you realize how our problems are minimal compared to others. Visiting refugee camps and immigrant homes changed my life. It was shocking, heartbreaking, and frustrating. I can’t keep images out of my head when I saw war victims, children crying, and desperate doctors in need of supplies. I saw, felt, and understood the people’s pain. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to devote my life to philanthropy and world peace.

Knowing many people have a better life because you exist. Hope is charity and peace. Hope has power to fill our lives with happiness."

William: Has it been important for you to live your life out loud?

Hanna: I’ve shared my life, beliefs, and experiences out loud mostly to promote awareness and inspiration. As a conference speaker, I share what I’ve seen and believe, in over 70 universities or via my social media accounts. Sometimes a message can be more of an impact than a food or book donation. I think we shouldn’t be afraid to do and be who we were born to be. Everything small counts and makes a meaningful difference every day. Each of us should make the best out of our circumstances.

William: Is there something about your life experiences that has caused self-amazement?

Hanna: Yes, I didn’t think so many people would join my cause and NGO. Today, Jaff Foundation has 7,000 active volunteers. I started five years ago, one person, one cause, and little by little it started to grow. To the point where now Jaff Foundation has representations in 18 states in Mexico. I’m so grateful with everyone who has been with me throughout this journey.

William: Where do you believe your greatest impact as a philanthropist has been?

Hanna: My greatest impact has been through my self-taught English book I wrote to benefit immigrants, refugees, and the less fortunate. It’s for Spanish speakers, Kurdish speakers, and Purépecha speakers. We’ve managed to donate about 22,000 books. It’s a wonderful feeling that later people write back to say thanks to your book I can speak basic English, got a job or could defend myself because of it.

William: What are the joys of giving you’ve experienced?

Hanna: It gave my life meaning and gratitude. Many people are born, but how many people live? How did your birth make a difference in this world and in somebody else’s life? The joy of giving and the joy of helping others nourishes your heart and satisfaction your life made a difference in somebody else’s. Giving makes us look beyond our personal problems and see the bigger picture. Real problems others face. Your worries and challenges may not seem like a big deal anymore compared to what others go through. My search for inner happiness was because of helping others, which led me to gratitude.

William: What is your prayer for your family?

Hanna: My family is my strength. I pray for us to keep a strong bond, protection, safety, health, unity, and goodness.

William: What is your prayer for humanity?

Hanna: I pray for all mankind, for peace, love, respect, unity, and tolerance.. Despite our political views, religious beliefs, sexual orientations, skin colors, genders, disabilities, socioeconomic statuses, and cultural differences that we learn to see everyone as human, as one.

William: What are your proudest achievements?

Hanna: Creating We Are One Campaign, it’s a nondiscrimination world peace movement, which aims to eliminate hatred, bullying, and division. We use clothes to deliver awareness and messages of unity and tolerance. We Are One Campaign is focused on bringing people closer, creating bridges not walls. We can all agree to disagree but should not cause harm to anyone, instead we only ask you to respect others. Every human, country, belief, race, and culture are unique, and our differences should be celebrated. We can make the world a better place only by understanding that wars, bans, hate, and violence are not the solution.

At first, it was always just a dream to do this clothing line with a message. Finally, I did it, and hope it makes a true difference.

Written and Conducted by William Jackson, Founder & Chief Business Officer of Influential Magazine, Spanish Influential, and Teen Influential