Yasmin Naficy

Yasmin Naficy grew up in a dozen countries overseas (Africa, the Mideast, and Europe), the daughter of international consultants. Yasmin is a passionate screenwriter, diligent producer, business development specialist, and scientific analyst, consulting for clients including NASA, The White House, NIH, the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Congress, and USAID. Ms. Naficy is a published author, with over 75 publications in scientific journals and books, including one that is published by the Cambridge University Press. Her mother is from Shanghai, China and is the grand-daughter of one of Sun Yet San's top generals. Yasmin's father is a former international development specialist serving throughout Africa and the Gulf region. Ms. Naficy's ancestors on both sides of her family regularly visited with King Edward VII and King George V in Great Britain during the Victorian/Edwardian eras. Ms. Naficy earned her Master's of Science degree in the U.K. as well, conducting her research in the Sinai desert while living with and interviewing Bedouin nomads over a period of years. Members on both sides of the family have, over the last 400 years, been significant contributors to medical science, industry and standards, international politics, international business, writing, law, and entertainment. Descended from five royal families, Yasmin Naficy began SCUBA diving at age 12, ultimately logging 700 dives in the Red Sea and developing a passion for the seas. At the young age of 23, raising $4 million in grant funding from USAID, Ms. Naficy co-founded an influential non-profit organization to establish regional coral reef protection at the Red Sea that has promoted marine conservation at resorts, launched public awareness campaigns, and helped preserve our planet's precious natural heritage. In business, she has been no less impressive in her work as a project manager and chief business writer, leading technical proposals that secured multi-billion dollar contracts for the world's most successful private sector companies. Ms. Naficy is also an avid space enthusiast, having attended the International Space University (ISU) and earning a graduate certificate in aerospace studies. She has advised NASA's astronaut program on geological surface features of the Sinai Peninsula while conducting research there. Yasmin's greatest joys, writing and cinematography -- inspired by visionaries like Ray Bradbury and David Lynch -- are being manifested in her current projects, "The Rogue", "Sins of the Father", and "Liberty", as well as two art films. These are cinematic, original films audiences of all ages can relate to on a visceral level.