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Sanela Diana Jenkins

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Sanela Diana Jenkins
Born
Sanela Dijana Ćatić

1973 (age 47–48)
Sarajevo, SFR Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina)
NationalityBosnian
Alma materUniversity of Sarajevo
City University, London
OccupationEntrepreneur and philanthropist; J/P Haitian Relief Organization; Sanela Diana Jenkins Human Rights Project at the UCLA; Sanela Diana Jenkins foundation for Bosnia and Herzegovina; Founder and CEO of neuro drinks
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1999; div. 2011)​
Children2
Websitedianajenkins.com

Sanela Diana Jenkins (born Sanela Dijana Ćatić; 1973) is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who was born and raised in Bosnia. She currently resides in California.[1] Jenkins fled her home country during the Siege of Sarajevo and emigrated to London, where she studied at City University, London.

Early life

Born in Sarajevo, Jenkins is the elder of two children in a middle-class Bosniak family. Her mother was an accountant and her father was an economist. She grew up in the concrete-block apartments that characterized communist-era Yugoslavia.[citation needed] Jenkins studied economics at the University of Sarajevo, but the outbreak of war in 1992 forced her to flee her home and spend more than a year in Croatia as a refugee before emigrating to London.

Career

After graduating with a degree in Computer Science and Economics from , she acquired the swimwear line Melissa Odabash.[2]

In 2009, Sanela created and launched the Neuro line of functional beverages based in Sherman Oaks, California.[3]

Philanthropic activities

Sanela Diana Jenkins established The Irnis Catic Foundation in 2002 in memory of her brother who was killed during the Bosnian Conflict. The foundation provides essential funding to the medical facilities at the University of Sarajevo. In 2009, Diana Jenkins was awarded the Peace Connection prize by the Center for Peace and Multi-Ethnic Cooperation.[4]

On May 5, 2018 Jenkins was honored at the Advisory Council for Bosnia & Herzegovina Gala in Washington, DC for her continued support and philanthropic activities in the country.[5][6]

She established the Sanela Diana Jenkins Human Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles in August 2008.[7] The clinic concentrates on legal advocacy, political advocacy and documentation.[7] It is the first endowed program on international justice and human rights at any law school in the western United States.

Immediately following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Jenkins and actor Sean Penn established the Jenkins-Penn Haitian Relief Organization to deliver hospital supplies and provide medical care to thousands of displaced Haitians. She compared the long-term recovery in Haiti to that in Bosnia,[8] highlighted the need for basic humanitarian aid,[9] and argued that the U.S. military should not leave the country prematurely.[10]

In March 2010, Jenkins posted bail for former Bosnian President Ejup Ganić, who was detained in London on a Serbian extradition request.[11]

Sanela was honored with the Enduring Vision award by the Elton John Aids Foundation for her activism in the fight against AIDS. [12]

Sanela produced a photography book entitled "Room 23", photographed by Deborah Anderson. Many of the celebrities in the book are friends of Jenkins, including George Clooney and Elton John. Proceeds from the sale of the book benefit several philanthropic programs.[13]

Personal life

In 1999, she married Roger Jenkins who was a prominent executive at Barclays Bank. The couple met at the gym at the Barbican, where Jenkins was living after the end of his marriage to his first wife, a banker at Barclays. They have two children together and later divorced.[14]

References

  1. ^ Thomas Jr, Landon (2008-11-22). "A Friendship's Paying Off for British Banking Giant". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  2. ^ Jacobs, Mark (2005-12-18). "Odabash". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  3. ^ "DIANA JENKINS NEURO HEALTH DRINKS TARGET - BevNET.com". BevNET.com. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  4. ^ "Center for Peace and Multi-Ethnic Cooperation Peace Connection Prize". Archived from the original on 2011-07-28.
  5. ^ "2018 ACBH Gala". Advisory Council for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  6. ^ "Advisory Council for Bosnia and Herzegovina (ACBH)". touch.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b "Sanela Diana Jenkins Human Rights Project". Archived from the original on 2014-06-02.
  8. ^ Jenkins, Diana (2010-01-23). "Don't Let Haiti's Natural Disaster Become a Man-Made Tragedy". Huffington Post.
  9. ^ Jenkins, Diana (2010-01-25). "Among the Building Blocks in Haiti: Tetanus Shots and Prosthetics". Huffington Post.
  10. ^ Jenkins, Diana (2010-03-01). "U.S. Should Go Slow on Haiti Troop Withdrawal". Huffington Post.
  11. ^ "Serbia is trying to distract us from the real war criminals". The Daily Telegraph. London. 2010-03-18.
  12. ^ "AN ENDURING VISION 2012". EJAG.org. Los Angeles. 2012-09-05.
  13. ^ "Room 23". Los Angeles Times. 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  14. ^ Cadwalladr, Carole. "Diana Jenkins: Accidental Philanthropist", The Observer, 27 September 2009. Retrieved 2011-02-22.

External links

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