Philanthropist. Conference Speaker. Human Rights Activist. Politician. Hanna Jaff Bosdet is typically known for her work with the Jaff Foundation which is the vehicle for her charitable endeavors. She seeks to do everything within her power to enhance and improve the lives of immigrants and refugees worldwide.
Bosdet is also one of the 9 cast members of Netflix’s first Mexican reality series, Made in Mexico, now streaming on Hulu. The storyline of the series focuses on the struggles, intrigues, and excitement in the lavish lives of nine Mexico City socialites.
Because Hanna passionately pursues causes that are important to her, she sometimes finds her ambition leads to friction within her social circles.
“I’m a bit different from the rest of the cast. I’m more serious and intellectual as a person. Not just my character on the cast, but in general. I’m very focused on my career as I’ve always been. I never was a party girl. You can see by the trailer that I’m completely different, I’m not in the crowds where everybody’s partying. It’s just who I am in real life and I embrace that. b .I haven’t seen the show. I ’ll see it when everyone else sees it. I can only tell you the way I am in real life. I’m very devoted to my humanitarian work.”
By humanitarian work, Bosdet means her One Person, One Place, One Cause, We Are One initiatives. These initiatives include the We Are One Campaign Apparel Store; the TEDx Nishtiman and TEDx Ciudad de Puebla talks; and most notably, the Jaff Foundation for Education. Since its creation in 2013, the Jaff Foundation, a nonprofit organization, has been dedicated to improving the lives of immigrants, refugees, and those in need, through education. The first campaign of the foundation was about learning English. Bosdet explained:
“At the camp, obviously they need food, they need supplies, and medical assistance. I wanted to do something more, and for me education has always been the key.
I wrote the English learning book myself. So far we’ve given about 22,000 English books to refugees, another 20,000 to immigrants here and all over different parts of the world, and to Mexican natives another 10,000.”
Thus far her Jaff organization is active in over 18 states, with over 7,000 volunteers benefiting the lives of over 120,000 people.
While education is at the crux of the Foundation she wants it to be understood that:
“Part of the charity- the cause, the mission, the vision, the values-is non-discrimination. I do conferences which have always been about awareness, have always been about We are One. A person’s skin color, religion, political views, sexual orientation, or gender doesn’t matter. In these conferences I touch on all the discrimination topics, bullying, the wall, and the immigration bans.”
Clearly determined, Hanna’s motivation stems from her own upbringing and her experiences to date. She herself is a victim of bullying and discrimination. Born and raised in San Diego, she is the daughter of a Kurdish-Muslim father and a Mexican-Catholic mother. She recalls the confusion and self-doubt she dealt with there concerning her own identity, and intimidation she encountered coming from others.
“When I was a kid in San Diego, people would ask: ‘Where are you from?’ ‘Where’d you grow up?’ My answer would always depend on who I was speaking to. If it was a Middle-Eastern person, I was Kurdish. If it was a Latin person, I was Mexican. If I was speaking to an American, I was from San Diego. When 9/11 happened, I was in school there. I had to defend the Muslim religion, saying that it’s not this terror religion. It’s a beautiful, peaceful religion. I was always constantly having to defend who I am and what I represented.”
Reconciling the various aspects of who she is, with the things over which she had no control and were devised before she was even born,proved to be a vital catalyst. This effort inspired in her a need to raise awareness and to become an advocate for non-discrimination.
“It wasn’t until I learned about my heritage, about my Kurdish and Mexican roots that I became proud of who I am. Now, I embrace that and am proud of it. I do take the time to say who I am. I’m not here to please everyone. I’ll defend anything I strongly believe in.”
The satisfaction and fulfillment she takes in her Mexican identity is what drove her to join the cast of Made in Mexico. Explaining why she is sacrificing her privacy for the audience’s viewing pleasure, she said:
“I chose to be a part of something. There’s always a stereotype, a bad reputation about Mexico. When I tell people I’m Mexican, they always say, ‘Is it dangerous?’ They imagine the worst because they’ve heard of crime and drug cartels. I want to be part of this reality show because it can bring a lot to people’s understanding of Mexicans and to improve Mexico’s reputation and image. I kind of just took a chance and am hoping for the best. I do hope that every one’s going to want to visit Mexico after seeing the show. They’re going to be like ‘Wow, Mexico City’s awesome!’ People are going want to be Mexican and visit Mexico.”
Despite the friction her ambitions may cause on the show, her passion for Mexico, its heritage and its culture is palpable. The show is now streaming, so all of Hanna’s attention is back on the Jaff Foundation with a special focus on her latest philanthropic brainchild, the We Are One Campaign Apparel Store.
Creative credits
- Written by
- Antoinette Adesanya
- Images Courtesy
- Hanna Jaff Bosdet
