Sanela Diana Jenkins - Philanthropic Activities

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. 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. The clinic concentrates on legal advocacy, political advocacy and documentation. 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, highlighted the need for basic humanitarian aid, and argued that the U.S. military should not leave the country prematurely.

A supporter of AIDS research, Jenkins has organized and hosted fundraisers for the Elton John AIDS Foundation. On 7 March 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.

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

In August 2010 her TV station TV1, which has its headquarters in Sarajevo will start to air its program.