Jeanette Charles, is a proud daughter of the Haitian Diaspora and German working class, born and raised in a predominantly Central American and Mexican community in Los Angeles, CA. She is a historian pursuing her PhD in the African Diaspora of Latin America and the Caribbean at UCLA (M.A. ‘19). Jeanette is also an international solidarity activist, language justice interpreter, writer/editor, and independent journalist with background in radio, television, film, and multimedia production. She was based in Latin America and the Caribbean for nearly a decade leading people-to-people exchanges, organizing human rights programs, and covering grassroots news for alternative media outlets with organizations like the Chiapas Support Committee, Witness for Peace, and teleSUR English among others.
Jeanette is the founder of Ìyá Global, a coaching, consulting, educational travel, and media hub grounded at the crossroads of storytelling, social justice, African spirituality, and international bridge-building. She became a certified life coach in 2020 and is a graduate of Scripps College with a B.A. in Latin American and Caribbean Studies.