2015.07.2-5 ►JAINA Convention ►Highlights & More @ HereNow4U

JAINA Convention 2015

Experience the World of Non-Violence

JAI JINENDRA

THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING 2015 JAINA CONVENTION

Thank you to those who attended our 18th Biennial JAINA Convention! We hope you had a wonderful time listening to the speakers, eating the delicious food, and enjoying the entertainment. For those who didn’t attend, we missed you and look forward to seeing you at the 2017 JAINA Convention! Meanwhile, check out the live webcast videos from the convention and look out for Convention images on our website.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CONVENTION

This 4th of July weekend, 4000 people gathered from all over the world to celebrate Jainism and participate in wonderful activities of religious education, spiritual, community and cultural. The Convention theme appropriately titled “Jainism: A World of Non-Violence” found its rightful site in Atlanta, the birthplace of one of the greatest global apostles of peace; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Convention was graced by over 30 erudite Jain monks, nuns, scholars (from India as well as other nations including the US), leading social activists, distinguished professionals and patrons.

Convener, Ashok Domadia, warmly welcomed everyone to 18th Biennial JAINA in Atlanta and noted that attendees from 24 countries were present. He observed that JAINA is the largest Jain organization outside India and JAINA Convention is the largest Jain Convention outside India. He thanked all the donors for record fund raising and 300+ Volunteers for their tireless efforts over a year to put together an amazing and memorable JAINA Convention.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS 2015-17


President	First VP	*Treasurer*	Secretary
Ashok Domadia	Gunvant Shah	Rita Sheth	Shobha Vora


*RVP Northeast*	RVP Mideast	RVP Southeast	*RVP Midwest*
Dr. Mamta Shaha	Prakash Mehta	Rajendra Mehta	Hemant T. Shah

*RVP Southwest*	RVP West	RVP Canada	*Past President*
Dr. Pradeep Shah	Mahesh Wadher	Dr. Raj Patil	Prem Jain
To read more about what our new Executive Members have to say about their commitment and goals for the growth of JAINA .

JAINA AWARD RECIPIENTS

JAINA Ratna Award

Mr. Dilip V. Shah

A visionary and a Leader Mr. Dilipbhai Shah has devoted his Life for the betterment of Mankind! He has been in the forefront of helping Human Beings - Anukampa - for over forty years. It all started when he was appointed director of Nationalist Services of Philadelphia in 1975. He single handedly assisted several refugee families from Uganda to settle down in USA! Since this beginning nothing has stopped him, not even a heart attack two weeks before 2007 JAINA Convention deterred him from his commitment to Humanity! .

JAINA Adult Leadership Awards


Deepika Dalal	Dilip Punatar	Gunvant Shah	Hasmita Parekh	Megha Doshi

Niranjan Shah	Sharad Shah	Tejas Shah	Vijay Chheda	Vipul Shah

JAINA Youth Leadership Awards


Arpit Mehta	Charmi Vakharia	Priyal Gandhi	Sapan Doshi

Sejal Dhruva	Shikhar Shah	Sunny Dharod	Vishal Mehta

JAINA Special Recognition Award	JAINA Presidential Awards
	Lifetime Achievement Award


Shree Girishbhai Shah

Outstanding Services & Education Award

To learn more about the Awards Recipients, .

YOUTH COMPETITIONS

Jain Academic Bowl (JAB)

Total 17 teams participated in Jain Academic Bowl Competition. Each team was allowed to have 6 players but only 5 players can play for any round of any game. Each JAB game consists of 3 rounds; Individual round, Category round, and Grab bag round. Total 44 questions were asked in each game.

10 teams were Junior teams (Age limit < 14 years)
07 teams were Senior teams (Age Limit < 21 years)

Speech Competition

The Youth Speech Competition was the first speech competition organized at the JAINA Convention to provide the young Jains a platform to express their views and beliefs about Jainism. The Topic for the competition was: Are Rituals Critical to Being a Jain? We all were privileged to hear the upcoming generation’s perspectives. Click to watch

JAINS GOT TALENT WINNERS

Jains Got Talent program at JAINA Convention this year in Atlanta
during 4th of July weekend had a great success.

Jains Got Talent (JGT) was hosted by Gunvant Shah and Jayesh Sanghvi under the umbrella of Jaina with Atlanta Jain Sangh at Georgia International Convention center with over 4000 attendees coming from various states of North America and other countries of the world…where entire theatre style International Hall was fully occupied on weekend (No seats left open...) Over 60 contestants took part in approximately 46 entries ranging from 3 years young child to 73 years young adult with variety of talents consisting of “Comedy act, Rubrics’ Cube, Poems, Singers, Dancers and many more entertaining acts….

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS!

Solo Performance
Group Performance

First Second First
Second

Ages 1 to 17 Anjal Jain Shilpi Shah City Music Group Dhoom Group

Ages 18 and up Vinit Jain Bela Gandhi Moksha Group Rajasthani Group

The Jains Got Talent had the highest number of participants over the history of Jaina conventions and they received outstanding recognition with Audience and also many dignitaries, leaders of various Jain Centers and Jaina.
Please continue to encourage talented young and adult Jains who takes part at such major conventions.

SUMMARY OF EVENTS

*Kids Club*
	In Kid's Club, children enjoyed a range of performers such as Michael Green the Science Machine and Howie the Magician. They additionally put their minds to the test by memorizing long lists of words in breathtakingly short times using fun skills they learned in the Mastermind sessions. To wrap up convention the children celebrated with their own shake and make vegan ice-cream. Thank you for all your help! We're excited to help in the years to come.
*Youth Activities*
	Youth activities were open to ages 13-20. Our future generation of Jain leaders engaged in captivating discussion on Jainism as it relates to our lives today and were able to hear keynote speaker Nipun Mehta talk about the power of kindness. During their evening activities, they enjoyed an informal dance with DJ Mashup and a formal night full of fun. JAINA also recognized the work of eight dedicated youth members during an award ceremony on Saturday.
*Jain Networking Forum*
	Young Jain Professionals was proud to host four sessions at the JAINA 2015 Convention focused on professional topics. Topics included: The Entrepreneurial Mogul vs. the Corporate Guru, Climbing the Corporate Ladder, Women and Their Careers: Using the 'Lean In' Philosophy to Make a Difference, and Tips to be an Expert Networker in the Digital Age. We had over 20 attendees for each session, accomplished and knowledgeable panelists and interactive question and answer periods. Young Jain Professionals was proud to stimulate engaging discussions related to career paths, networking, professional advancement, and spiritual development.
*Jain Milan*
	JAINA’s matrimonial service, open to ages 21-40, brought together young Jains looking to mingle and interact with other Jains. Jain Milan participants were able to go on an exciting cruise, attend mixers, and engage in relationship workshops. Convention sessions included “Coffee meets Bagel” and keynote addresses by Monica Shah, Kavita Patel, and Yashesh Makwana.
*Link to Live Feed Broadcast*
	Missed the JAINA Convention? Want to see your favorite session once more? JAINA has got the videos from the live broadcast of many of the key sessions and ceremonies from the 18th Biennial Convention. You can enjoy keynote addresses by Andrew Young, John Lewis, and Nipun Mehta right from your home. Please click on the image to the left to view the videos.

STAY CONNECTED!

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*JAINA Volunteer Corps*
	Are you passionate about making a difference for the Jain community? Would you like to learn and develop new skills while doing so? Are you a leader who enjoys collaborating with other leaders? Then join the JAINA Volunteer Corps (JVC) today! NOTE: This opportunity is currently only available to those in North America. Go to to fill out our form or email to learn more.

BE A LEADER - LAUNCH YOUR OWN PROJECT!

Are you a leader? Do you have an idea for a project that can make a difference for the Jain Community? We have a variety of tools and resources to support you in making your project successful! From helping you build your team, to providing technology support, to connecting you with fellow leaders, we have everything you need.
Let’s get started!

We look forward to working with you inside of our shared vision for the Jain Community!