Sanela Diana Jenkins

Sanela Diana Jenkins (born in 1973 as Sanela Ćatić in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) is a Bosnian entrepreneur and philanthropist. 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 eldest 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.^[2] 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

While still a student in London, she acquired the swimwear line Melissa Odabash.^[3]

She 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.^[4]

In 2009, Jenkins created and launched the Neuro line of functional beverages. Based in Santa Monica, Neuro produces drinks with natural ingredients and packaged with recycled materials. Neuro products are distributed in the West Coast of the United States and in Great Britain. The drinks aim to fill a variety of needs over the course of the day and include such descriptive names as Gasm, Sleep, Sonic, Trim, Sport, Bliss and Aqua.^[5]

Philanthropic activities

Diana Jenkins established The Irnis Catic Foundation in 2002 in memory of her brother who was killed by Serbs.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.^[6] Past winners have included Bono and Nelson Mandela.

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.^[8] This program 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,^[9] highlighted the need for basic humanitarian aid,^[10] and argued that the U.S. military should not leave the country prematurely.^[11]

A supporter of AIDS research, Jenkins has organized and hosted fund-raisers for the Elton John AIDS Foundation. On March 7, 2010, Jenkins and Neuro sponsored and co-chaired the Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party. The event raised $3.7 million. In October 2009, she co-hosted with Jimmy Choo founder Tamara Mellon the launch of Project PEP in support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.^{[citation needed]}

In March 2010, Jenkins posted bail for former Bosnian President Ejup Ganić, who was detained in London on a Serbian extradition request.^[12]

In August 2010 her TV station TV1, which has its headquarters in Sarajevo will start to air its program. She managed to win the affection of many TV stars in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have become part of a team of her television.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ Thomas Jr, Landon (2008-11-22). "A Friendship's Paying Off for British Banking Giant". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/22/business/22bonus.html?ref=business. Retrieved 2010-05-23. 
2. ^ Collins, Laura; Sanderson, Elizabeth (2009-07-05). "The beautiful refugee from Bosnia who clinched the £7.3bn deal that saved Barclays". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1197563/The-beautiful-refugee-Bosnia-clinched-7-3bn-deal-saved-Barclays.html. 
3. ^ Jacobs, Mark (2005-12-18). "Odabash". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E4DB1E31F93BA25751C1A9639C8B63&sec=&spon=. Retrieved 2010-05-23. 
4. ^ "Room 23". Los Angeles Times. 2009-02-19. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/alltherage/2009/02/diana-jenkins-h.html. Retrieved 2010-05-23. 
5. ^ "Neuro Drinks". http://drinkneuro.com. 
6. ^ "Center for Peace and Multi-Ethnic Cooperation Peace Connection Prize". http://sdjfoundation.org/images/decision-SDJ.gif. 
7. ^ "Sanela Diana Jenkins Human Rights Project". http://law.ucla.edu/centers-programs/sanela-diana-jenkins-human-rights-project/Pages/default.aspx. 
8. ^ "Sanela Diana Jenkins Human Rights Project". http://www.law.ucla.edu/home/index.asp?page=3251. 
9. ^ "Don't Let Haiti's Natural Disaster Become a Man-Made Tragedy". http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-jenkins/dont-let-haitis-natural-d_b_433605.html. 
10. ^ "Among the Building Blocks in Haiti: Tetanus Shots and Prosthetics". http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-jenkins/among-the-building-blocks_b_436234.html. 
11. ^ "U.S. Should Go Slow on Haiti Troop Withdrawal". http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-jenkins/us-should-go-slow-on-hait_b_480832.html. 
12. ^ "Serbia is trying to distract us from the real war criminals". The Daily Telegraph (London). 2010-03-18. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/bosnia/7473782/Serbia-is-trying-to-distract-us-from-the-real-war-criminals.html. 

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Name	Jenkins, Sanela Diana
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Date of birth	1973
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