Lisa Rene Shanti Hanna (born August 20, 1975) is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and beauty queen who was crowned

Miss World 1993 Miss World 1993, the 43rd edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 27 November 1993 at the Sun City Entertainment Centre in Sun City, South Africa. It was the first time the Miss World pageant was held in the South Africa.The pageant a ...

, becoming the third Jamaican to win the title. A member of the opposition

People's National Party The People's National Party (PNP) is a Social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Jamaica, political party in Jamaica, founded in 1938 by independence campaigner Osmond Theodore Fairclough. It holds 14 of the 63 seats in ...

, Hanna currently serves as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Saint Ann South East, and was Jamaica's Minister of Youth and Culture from 2012–2016. Hanna was a candidate in the 2020 People's National Party leadership election, following the PNP's defeat at the

2020 Jamaican general election General elections were held in Jamaica on Thursday, 3 September 2020Peter Phillips Peter Mark Andrew Phillips (born 15 November 1977) is a British businessman and the son of Anne, Princess Royal, and Captain Mark Phillips. He is the eldest nephew of King Charles III, and 17th in the line of succession to the British throne. ...

. Hanna was defeated by

Mark Golding Mark Jefferson Golding (born 19 July 1965) is a Jamaican attorney, investment banker, and politician who has been Opposition Leader of Jamaica and President of the People's National Party since November 2020, following the 2020 Presidential El ...

Education

She was educated at the Queen's School, Jamaica, where she was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador by the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

, and has a Bachelors and Masters degree in Communications from the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

Professional life

Career in entertainment

In 1998, Hanna acted in the romantic comedy ''

How Stella Got Her Groove Back ''How Stella Got Her Groove Back'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan, adapted from Terry McMillan's best-selling 1996 novel of the same title. The film stars Angela Bassett, Taye Diggs (in his film de ...

''. In 2003, Hanna tried her hand in

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

, hosting a Jamaican

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

''Our Voices'' and was a guest presenter on

Xtra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * '' Extra!'', an American m ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. She returned to her country a year later and was a communications consultant for the

Hilton Hotel Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton. The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As ...

New Kingston Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Internat ...

Jamaican Parliament

In the 2007 general election, as a member of the

, Hanna contested and won the seat for St. Ann South East. Hence, positioning her as a

for that Constituency. She is one of the youngest women to be elected to the Jamaican Parliament. In addition to her duties as constituency representative she served as opposition spokesperson on Information, Youth and Culture up to December 2011. In the 29 December 2011 polls her party was elected into power. She was subsequently appointed as Minister of Youth and Culture. During her tenure as Minister of Youth & Culture, Hanna developed the Green Paper for the National Youth Policy 2015-2030. This policy aimed to address the needs of all young people through partnerships with the public sector, private sector, youth organizations, NGOs, faith-based organizations, academia and with Jamaica’s international development partners. Under Hanna’s ministry, the National Foster Care programme was revamped, allowing the placement of over 855 children with 800 families. Hanna’s ministry also bolstered the Ananda Alert System which allowed 85% of missing children to be returned safely to their homes in August 2013. In 2016, Hanna shared her strategy for tackling the needs of Jamaican children at a

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

conference in New York City. That same year, Jamaica moved up 52 places on the UNICEF Kids Rights Index to be ranked 51 out of 163 countries. In 2015, Hanna successfully lobbied to have Jamaica’s Blue and John Crow Mountain’s declared a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. They became the first UNESCO World Heritage Site for Jamaica and the Caribbean. On November 7, 2020 the PNP elected

as its 6th President after he defeated challenger Hanna by 1,740 votes to 1,444 in the 2020 People's National Party leadership election. In 2021, Hanna became a weekly columnist for the Jamaica Observer, where she opined on an array of topics, from the value-added opportunities of Jamaican Agriculture to her desire to see Bob Marley named National Hero. In March 2022, Hanna was appointed to APCO Worldwide’s International Advisory Council (IAC). Her role is to expand the Caribbean and Latin American focus in the areas of food security, trade, global economy and matters concerning gender and the security related to gender. In August 2022, she announced she would not stand in the next general election.

Personal life

Lisa Hanna was born in Retreat, St. Mary Parish to Rene Hanna of Lebanese descent and Dorothy Hosang of African and Chinese descent. Hanna married David Panton in 1999 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

.Horowitz, Jason
In College Roommate David Panton, Ted Cruz Finds Unwavering Support
''New York Times'', 23 April 2016. Hanna and Panton had a son in 2001. They divorced in 2004 in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. In December 2017, Hanna married Jamaican businessman Richard Lake in St. Andrew, Jamaica. Together Richard Lake and Lisa Hanna run Lydford Logistics a contract manufacturing, commercial warehouse and shipping operation in

Moneague, Jamaica Moneague is a small town in Saint Ann, Jamaica on the main road between Kingston and Ocho Rios. In the colonial days, the town prospered as a stopover for the rich English on their journey. Moneague is the location of the Jamaica Defence Forc ...

References

External links

People's National Party - Official Lisa Hanna profileLydford Logistics: About Us
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanna, Lisa 1975 births Living people University of the West Indies alumni Communications consultants Government ministers of Jamaica Jamaican beauty pageant winners Jamaican female models Jamaican columnists Jamaican women columnists Jamaican people of Lebanese descent Members of the House of Representatives of Jamaica Miss World winners Miss World 1993 delegates Models from Kingston, Jamaica Politicians from Kingston, Jamaica People's National Party (Jamaica) politicians Women government ministers of Jamaica 21st-century Jamaican women politicians 21st-century Jamaican politicians Beauty queen-politicians Members of the 11th Parliament of Jamaica Members of the 12th Parliament of Jamaica Members of the 13th Parliament of Jamaica Members of the 14th Parliament of Jamaica