The Human Act Founders’ Story

My name is Djaffar Shalchi, and I have faith in the future of our wonderful world.

My beloved wife and I founded Human Act with a wish to make a difference in the lives of the millions living in extreme poverty. Today’s inequality in wealth means that a few people have far more money than they could ever spend in a lifetime, while countless others endure inhuman conditions, struggling just to survive each day.

Inspired by the words of my role model and great spiritual and political leader, Mahatma Gandhi, “Poverty is the worst form of violence”, we are determined to end the suffering of millions.

I was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1961. When I was eight years old, my parents decided to seek residency in Austria. Unfortunately, our application was rejected after a year, forcing our family – my three brothers, my younger sister, and me – to separate.

While my mother, siblings, and I had to return to Iran, my father traveled to Denmark. Luckily, we were granted residency. But shortly after, my parents divorced, and my siblings and I were sent to an orphanage.

The Story Continued

The Iranian Revolution in 1979 had a significant influence on my family. In Iran, the Shah was forced into exile, and the long and deadly war with Iraq began.

Both of my brothers returned to Iran to help rebuild the country. Unfortunately, my oldest brother disappeared during his efforts in his birth country and was never found again. My younger brother, who also returned, died due to illness.

I married a Danish girl, Ané Maro, and we had two exceptional children. When my family returned to Iran, I decided to finish my education in Denmark and obtained a degree as a construction engineer in 1988. I decided to be self-employed in 1999, which led to my great financial success, and by private means.

The Beginning of Human Act

The Danish welfare system was designed to foster social mobility and equality of opportunity. This system made it possible for me, as a migrant, to climb the ladder of success. The advanced social tax system financed my free higher education and social security, enabling me to start my own business.

My family and I wish that all the world’s children had the same opportunities as I was given to create a better life. We are determined never to forget to give back to those who are less fortunate.

Therefore, in 2015, my wife and I decided to put more than $30 million of our fortune into starting the Human Act Foundation. We wanted to help make a difference and inspire others to do the same because no one is self-made. That word does not exist.

It is the community that helps you grow. Therefore, most of one’s fortune should return to the community, to make it stronger and better, for our children and grandchildren.

Founders' Dream

We founded Human Act to end extreme poverty and to ensure everyone can live with dignity, with access to clean water, food, health care, and education. Ending poverty will reduce violence, modern slavery, refugee flows, and environmental harm, and create a safer, fairer world for all.

We’re trying to launch a non-violent movement, inspired by Thoreau, Tolstoy, Gandhi, Mandela, and Martin Luther King. Like Gandhi’s resistance in peace, we’ll rally citizens worldwide in peaceful gatherings against extreme inequality.

Today, the richest 1 % hold more wealth than the other 99 % combined. This stark imbalance threatens democracy, allowing the few to shape laws and economies. Meanwhile, millions still suffer under inhuman conditions. We believe that redirecting just 1 % of that wealth through a global annual tax could end extreme poverty.

Our vision is simple: a world where resources, services, and power are shared fairly, a world without tax havens, where the richest pay their fair share. We refuse to accept poverty as inevitable or natural. It is manufactured and therefore can be dismantled by collective will, moral courage, and new governance.

Will you join us? Together, we can persuade leaders to act now, not by 2030 or 2050, because time is running out. We can make a world without extreme poverty and reach the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

As Nelson Mandela said, “It always seems impossible until it is done.” 

Together we can make this happen!

 

Best Regards,

Ané Maro and Djaffar Shalchi