About us
We believe in the power of personal, relatable, human stories to educate, inspire and encourage empathy, unity and integration. We have seen first hand the impact of amplifying these voices that otherwise far too often go unheard, and we are dedicated to keep doing so.
Our Story
Motivational speaker and podcaster Jaz O'Hara is the founder of Asylum Speakers, a media platform amplifying voices on those impacted by displacement.
As a writer for The Huffington Post, winner of Marie Claire’s ‘Future Shaper’ award and member of Amnesty International’s ‘Collective’, Jaz has become a leading voice on the topic of migration, speaking everywhere from TedX, to the United Nations in NYC.
Jaz’s work comes from a personal place, and dates back to early 2015 when her parents began fostering an unaccompanied minor named Mez from Eritrea. Mez made the journey across the world as a child refugee, and was the first of five new brothers to join Jaz’s family, also from Afghanistan, Sudan, a 13-year-old boy from Libya, and most recently, Mez’s younger brother, Josi.
Asylum Speakers is the continuation of this global family.
Jaz and her team are dedicated to challenging the fear-based narrative of today's media and society and do so through film, talks and an extremely popular podcast of the same name.
From almost a decade of experience working in the humanitarian sector, specifically with asylum seekers and refugees, we have learnt three things:
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Asylum Seekers and refugees have the most incredibly inspirational, informative and eye-opening stories to tell.
Hearing these stories first hand is a powerful tool for empathy, and has the biggest impact in shaping views on migration.
The current fear-based rhetoric around migration needs to change as we expect there to be 1 billion people displaced by 2050.