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Nazanin Afshin-Jam

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نازنین افشین‌جم
Nazanin Afshin-Jam
Nazanin Afshin-Jam at TEDxVancouver 2010
Born
Nazanin Afshin-Jam

(1979-04-11) April 11, 1979 (age 45)
Tehran, Iran
Height1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
SpousePeter MacKay (m. 2012)
ChildrenKian (b. 2013)
Beauty pageant titleholder
TitleMiss World Canada 2003
Miss World Americas 2003
Hair colorBrown
Eye colorBrown
Major
competition(s)		Miss World Canada 2003 (winner)
Miss World 2003
(1st runner-up)

Nazanin Afshin-Jam (Persian: نازنین افشین‌جم, born April 11, 1979 in Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian-Canadian model, singer, songwriter, author, public speaker and human rights activist. She is a former Miss World Canada and Miss World Americas winner and Miss World first runner-up, and has been an advocate for human rights in her role as president and co-founder of Stop Child Executions. She immigrated to Canada with her family in 1981. She is the wife of Peter MacKay, as of 2013, Canada's Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.

Early life

Nazanin Afshin-Jam was born on April 11, 1979 in Tehran, Iran)[1][better source needed] She immigrated to Canada with her family in 1981. Via upbringing and schooling, Afshin-Jam is fluent in Persian, English and French.

Education and career highlights

Afshin-Jam graduated with an undergraduate degree from the University of British Columbia,[when?][citation needed] thereafter taking work with the Red Cross,[1][better source needed] and returning for a masters training at Norwich University.[when?][2][better source needed] In February 2008, Afshin-Jam was appointed by the Prime Minister's Office to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.[1][better source needed] Afshin is also an international model, actress, singer, and social activist.[citation needed] She has had media features on CNN, BBC, CBC, FOX, Al Jazeera and numerous radio shows,[citation needed] talk shows[citation needed] and print including Glamour, Seventeen, Chatelaine, Flare, Elle and Vanity Fair.[citation needed]

Education and Red Cross work

Afshin-Jam graduated from the University of British Columbia with a B.A. in international relations and political science,[2][better source needed] and has done further study at Sciences Po in Paris and the Queen's University International Study Centre Herstmonceux Castle in England.[citation needed] Following her matriculation, Afshin-Jam served with the Red Cross as a Global Youth Educator, teaching on subjects including the Landmine Crisis, Children affected by War, the Poverty-Disease Cycle, and Natural Disasters.[1][better source needed] She returned to university and received M.A. in diplomacy with a concentration in international conflict management from Norwich University.[when?][2][better source needed]

Miss World competition

In 2003, Afshin-Jam became Miss World Canada[1][better source needed] and joined in the Miss World contest in Sanya, China, where she ranked second.[3] Afshin-Jam has communicated that she entered the Miss World competition, whose motto is “beauty with a purpose”, to have a stronger platform to speak on human rights issues.[citation needed]

Activism and awards

Afshin-Jam has traveled worldwide in efforts to aid victims of the tsunami in India and Sri Lanka,[citation needed] to raise funds for the earthquake victims of Bam,[citation needed] to supporti fistula patients in Ethiopia,[citation needed] and to fundraising for Variety the Children's Charity,[citation needed] and has worked to bridge the digital divide through youth advocacy and raising awareness on the practice of Bear Bile Farming in China.[citation needed] She continues to address human rights abuses worldwide, particularly in relation to women and children in Iran and the Middle East, where her efforts have included speeches at UN,[citation needed] EU,[citation needed] and Canadian and UK Parliaments.[citation needed]

Afshin-Jam was opposed to the death penalty being applied to 18-year-old Iranian woman Nazanin Mahabad Fatehi, who was sentenced to hang for stabbing one of three men who tried to rape her and her niece in Karaj in March 2005.[4] She started a campaign to help save the life of this minor including a petition which attracted more than 350,000 signatures worldwide. She has also dedicated her song "Someday the Revolution song" -one of the 12 songs on her album -Someday to Nazanin Fatehi and some other youth in Iran. Eventually, with pressure from the international community, Nazanin Fatehi was granted a new trial by the head of Judiciary in June 2006. In January 2007 Nazanin Fatehi was exonerated of murder charges and was released on January 31, 2007, after Afshin-Jam raised $43,000 on-line for bail while her lawyers worked on her case. For her efforts in helping save Nazanin Fatehi, Afshin-Jam was awarded the “hero for human rights award” from Youth For Human Rights International and Artists for Human Rights at the United Nations headquarters in New York. In May 2012, "The Tale of Two Nazanins" by Afshin-Jam and Susan McClelland, chronicling the divergent lives of the 2 Iranian Nazanins whose lives intersected during Fatehi's trial, was published by HarperCollins;[5] media responses to the book were generally positive.[6][7][8]

Afshin-Jam initiated Stop Child Executions Campaign and petition to help other children on death row.[1][better source needed] The campaign was registered as a non-profit organization with 501-C 3 status in 2008. She is co-founder and President of Stop Child Executions Organization, whose aim is to try to put a permanent end to executions of minors in Iran and abroad.[9]

On the 9th anniversary of the student uprising in Iran, Afshin-Jam made a speech in the UK parliament, commemorating the uprising. In her remarks, she mentioned some of the victims of the uprising. On September 23, 2008 Afshin-Jam organized "Ahmadinejad's Wall of Shame" rally at Dag Hammarskjöld park across the United Nations in New York as Ahmadinejad was addressing the General Assembly. In November 2008 Afshin-Jam received the "Global Citizenship Award" by the University of British Columbia's Alumni Association[10] In April 2009 Afshin-Jam received the "Human Rights Hero Award" from UN Watch in Geneva, Switzerland.

Afshin-Jam was slated to play the role of Táhirih in the Jack Lenz movie Mona's Dream,[11] about the life of Mona Mahmudnizhad.[citation needed] In 2009, she signed an open letter of apology posted to Iranian.com along with 266 other Iranian academics, writers, artists, journalists about the Persecution of Bahá'ís.[12] In 2009, Afshin-Jam won the YMCA Power of Peace Award as “Young Emerging Leader”.

Documentary film work

Afshin-Jam participated, together with 8 other women's rights activists, in the documentary film Honor Diaries[13] which explores the issues of gender-based violence and inequality in Muslim-majority societies. Her personal story was featured alongside those of the other activists, all of whom are working to combat gender prejudice that is embedded in honor-based societies.[14]

Music

Afshin-Jam's debut album, Someday was released in April 2007 by Bodog Music.[15] Her music is influenced by her multilingual and international background; she sings in English, French, Persian and Spanish. This genre-spanning song selection could be classified in many categories but, in particular, in: Pop, Dance and World Beat.[16][better source needed]

Several of Afshin-Jam's songs have made the Top 30 and Top 40 charts. Her debut single, "I Dance 4 U" charted at #20 in the Music Week - Commercial Pop Top 30 Club Chart (a music video for the song has been released).[16][better source needed] Afshim-Jam's single "Someday" has been climbing the FMQB Top 40 chart in the U.S. and is currently at #7.[17] Her new single "I Do" reached #39 on the Billboard Chart in adult contemporary music. A Christmas single "On Christmas Day" has also made the charts, ranking #59 on the ACQB chart. The proceeds from the song are contributed to the Stop Child Executions Campaign. Afshin-Jam has dedicated "Someday the Revolution Song" from her album Someday, to Nazanin Fatehi and other youth in Iran. She has said that she wants to compose songs about Aung San Suu Kyi, Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalits in India.[16][better source needed]

Personal life

A licensed pilot, Afshin-Jam flies both powered aircraft and gliders and achieved the highest rank in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets—Warrant Officer First Class. On January 4, 2012, Afshin-Jam married Peter MacKay, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (as of 2013),[18] at a private ceremony in Mexico.[19][20][21] The couple has one son, Kian Alexander MacKay, born April 1, 2013.[22]

2003 Miss World Results

Miss World 1st runner up 2003: Nazanin Afshin-Jam

Special Awards

  • Miss Sport 2003
  • Queen of the Americas, 2003
  • 50 most beautiful people in the World
  • 100 most talented girls in 2010s.

Miss World Canada 2003: Nazanin Afshin-Jam

  • 1st Runner-up: Marie-Andrée Poulin, Miss Montreal
  • 2nd Runner-up: Yolaine Grant, Miss Ottawa

Special Awards

  • Swimwear/Beach Beauty: Nazanin Afshin-Jam
  • 1st Runner-up Miss Vancouver 1999

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f National Speakers Bureau. Nazanin Afshin-Jam - Summary Profile. Retrieved on: 2012-01-04.
  2. ^ a b c Halifax International Security Forum, 2011, "2011 Speakers, Nazanin Afshin-Jam, President and Co-Founder, Stop Child Executions". See http://halifaxtheforum.org/2011-forum/2011-speakers/, accessed 5 May 2014.
  3. ^ Irish Connections Magazine. Ireland's Miss World Rosanna Davidson. Retrieved on: 2012-01-04.
  4. ^ Halifax Chronicle-Herald: UN to save teen who killed would-be rapist
  5. ^ Nazanin Afshin-Jam and Susan McClelland, 2012, "The Tale of Two Nazanins", Scarborough Ontario:HarperCollins Canada, 272 pp. [ISBN 9781554689729]. See http://www.harpercollins.ca/books/Tale-Two-Nazanins/?isbn=9781554689729, accessed 1 May 2014.
  6. ^ ICI Radio Canada article, 2007, "Nazanin Mahabad Fatehi is saved" (Nazanin Mahabad Fatehi est sauvée), 15 January 2007. See http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/International/2007/01/15/004-iran-miss-canada.shtml&prev=/search%3Fq%3DNazanin%2BMahabad%2BFatehi%2Best%2Bsauv%25C3%25A9e%26lr%3D%26as_qdr%3Dall, accessed 1 May 2014.
  7. ^ Margot Grant, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 2012, "Fighting for condemned children", 6 July 2012, See http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/fighting-condemned-children, accessed 1 May 2014.
  8. ^ David Maynard, iranian.com Rights, 2006, "Save Nazanin from Nazanin", 2 October 2006, See http://iranian.com/BTW/2006/October/Rights/index.html, accessed 1 May 2014.
  9. ^ http://www.stopchildexecutions.com
  10. ^ "Alumni Achievement Awards « UBC Alumni Affairs". Alumni.ubc.ca. 2011-11-29. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  11. ^ http://www.monasdream.com
  12. ^ "We are ashamed!". Iranian.com. 2009-02-04Template:Inconsistent citations{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  13. ^ "Honor Diaries".
  14. ^ "Chicago Film Festival". Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  15. ^ Fulghum, Sherrill. Nazanin - Someday Review. antiMusic.com Iconoclast Entertainment Group. Music: Someday.
  16. ^ a b c Black Rabbit. Nazin Afshin-Jam.
  17. ^ "Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Arbitron Ratings, Music News and more!". FMQB. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  18. ^ Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, 2014, "The Honourable Peter Gordon Mackay". See http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/minister/honourable-peter-gordon-mackay, accessed 5 May 2014.
  19. ^ Galloway, Gloria (January 4, 2012). Peter MacKay weds rights activist, former beauty queen. Globe and Mail. Retrieved on: 2012-01-04.
  20. ^ CBC News (July 15, 2013). [1]. Retrieved on: 2013-07-15.
  21. ^ CBC News (January 4, 2012). Peter MacKay weds former beauty queen. Retrieved on: 2012-01-04.
  22. ^ CTV News (April 1, 2013). "Defence Minister Peter MacKay announces birth of son Kian Alexander"
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nazanin Afshin-Jam.
Preceded by
Lynsey Bennett
 Miss World Canada
2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Natalia Peralta
 Miss World Americas
2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Natalia Peralta
 Miss World First Runner-up
2003 		Succeeded by

Template:Miss World Continental Queen of Beauty titleholders 2003

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