Chaker Khazaal (Founder)

Chaker Khazaal is a writer, filmmaker, entrepreneur, public speaker and philanthropist. He is the visionary behind Nations United and Faces of Transformation, the world’s first humanitarian web-based reality program.

Born in Beirut, Lebanon, of Palestinian background, Chaker grew up in a creative, loving and supportive community despite the regular threats of armed conflict and constant political tension. In 2002, at the age of 15, Chaker starred in the film Sugar of Jaffa, a documentary directed by Hicham Kayed. The very next year, Chaker jumped at the opportunity to work behind the camera to produce his first film, And That’s How We Started. This short film depicts the dreams and aspirations of Palestinian youths living in Lebanese refugee camps. The film successfully debuted in Bergen, Norway and then screened in various other locations. As a result of his filming experience with Palestinian youths, Chaker co-founded a theatre and film group in the Bourj Al-Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon.

Chaker then dedicated his time to academics and professional development. In 2005, he accepted the York University Global Leader of Tomorrow Award for demonstrating academic excellence, leadership, and community service. Chaker moved to Toronto, Canada and began his studies as an international student at York University. At York Chaker studied film, foreign languages, politics and social sciences while also working for the university in the international recruitment and admissions department. Chaker finished his program in 2009 with Bachelor of Arts in International Development Studies. He is most grateful to the many individuals in the international community who helped support his education.

Chaker held the position of International Director with the education management and recruitment firm Can Study Canada, and currently remains as a member of the Board of Directors. While internationally recruiting students, Chaker had the pleasure of exploring his passions for commerce, travel, and international relations. Following these ventures, Chaker began exploring his passion for filmmaking, and was recently honoured as a member of the Trade Union of the Technicians of Cinema in Lebanon.

Nations United stems out of Chaker’s passion to diverse collaborations in order to achieve in life. Nations United not only builds the necessary contacts for humanitarian projects to allocate supporters and funding but also structures the projects to sustainably run in the region of operation.

Chaker went to Lebanon in September 2010 where he participated in a press conference that presented Nations United and its values with the Arabic community. Through written and visual press, a call for aid in refugee affairs was launched. This led to cooperation with local non-governmental organizations implementing programs in education by sponsoring young aspiring students to receive university education. Chaker is acting as the spokesperson for the Women’s Humanitarian Organization focusing on sponsoring young Palestinian women achieving their educational goals. Through one of Nations United’s Big 7 Campaigns Freedom International for Nations United (FINU), Chaker has created a platform, which will organize aid to refugees worldwide.

Chaker visited Kiev, Ukraine in November 2010 where he was widely received by the press. Along with the Nations United team, he took part in a press conference held by Unian News Agency and had a one hour spot on the local television station TRK where he was interviewed about Nations United’s campaigns, and IGOERA – the feature film Nations United is co-producing. The success of this press reflects the wider success of Nations United’s mission and goals – to bring diverse nations together through collaborative media projects.

Chaker is now acting as the spokesperson of the Child Well-Being Fund of Ukraine, developing and implementing innovations into the areas of social work, community mobilization and partnerships in order to create an environment that improves the living conditions of children and families and to ensure the full potential of every child in the Ukraine.

Chaker has structured the Nations United seven campaigns and remains very involved with each campaign. In 2011, Chaker and the Nations United team designed Faces of Transformation, a program by Nations United bringing nations, social media, humanitarianism and reality shows together. He is the host of the first humanitarian web-based reality and a social media judge. Click here to watch Chaker in the Faces of Transformation promo!

Through his Facebook page that attracted over 80,000 fans in the first few months of its launch, Chaker raises awareness about different humanitarian causes and specially those related to refugees. Chaker believes that there has to be a shift in the focus on refugee affairs to be more centered on providing international opportunities to displaced people and integrating them into the societies they have found themselves in and communities that require their skills.

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