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Speakers
Dorothy Davies and Monte Jackson started saving animals a couple of decades ago. Among the first bunch was a nine month old pet shop puppy, Sasha, who a family had purchased, but couldn't appropriately care for. SASHA is now a nonprofit organization. It stands for Sanctuary and Safe Haven for Animals, sheltering over 200 animals, each with its own story to tell. Some were dumped and discarded, some left to die. They now live their natural lives under the loving care of Dorothy and Monte who have transformed the distrust in their eyes with curiosity or calm.
Mr. Rajesh Prasad is a Jain attorney working with the city of Detroit. He completed his bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and juris doctor from Washington and Lee School of Law in 1999. He is a passionate animal rights activist, who in his spare time has gone to great lengths in promoting non-violence to animals. He co-founded the City's Animal Protection Unit, and was also the first Indian awarded the Albert Schweitzer Award (in 2011) with his colleague Amy Slameka, for their bold approaches in prosecuting many animal cruelty and animal fighting cases in Michigan. He has tried over 190 jury trials. He is currently on the State Bar of Michigan's Animal Law Section. Rajesh and his wife Catrina, are proud owners of two rescued dogs.
Mr. Bhupesh Mehta is Chairman of Past President's (2011-12) Council of Jain Society of Metropolitan Washington, and a former JAINA Director. He has been a guest speaker at many schools, universities, organizations and youth camps about Jainism and the Jain way of life. He was a guest panelist speaker on the 'Frederick Faith Debate program on the radio station WFMD AM930. He conducts DC kitchen activities yearly to feed Jain food to homeless and needy people and is currently working on the JAINA Upliftment project to aid the poor Jain children and families in India to receive a quality education, higher or vocational training, and skill enhancement vocational training to increase their earning potential. Bhupesh is an IT professional.
Prof. Stephen Vose is an Assistant Professor at Florida International University Department of Religious Studies. He obtained a bachelor's degree from St. Lawrence University, followed by a master's degree from Harvard Divinity School, and has recently completed his doctorate from University of Pennsylvania. His main areas for research and teaching are the religious traditions of South Asia, primarily in Jainism and secondarily in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Islam. He examines the history of interactions within and between these traditions. His research topic was "Jain Monks as Political Leaders in Sultanate-era Gujarat," and he lived in Ahmedabad during 2009-10 to conduct his research. He is fluent in several languages: Gujarati, Sanskrit, Prakrit, Hindi and Nepali. Jainism: The Global Impact
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