H.A.S.A.N. was established by Dr. Kelley Fanto Deetz and Justin Fornal in 2018, as a non-profit 501(c)(3), dedicated to restorative justice through racial reconciliation and repatriation of human and cultural remains. The co-founders Fornal and Deetz met while working with National Geographic on a documentary on Nat Turner, during which Fornal successfully located and repatriated the presumed skull of Nat Turner to his descendants. Fornal, an award-winning filmmaker, world explorer, and host of Unexplained and Unexplored (Discovery/Science Channel), and Dr. Deetz, a renowned scholar, archaeologist, and historian of the African diaspora, established H.A.S.A.N. to partner with community stakeholders to bring restorative justice to culturally sensitive projects.