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SPEAKER BIOGRAPHES
Preyas Shah Preyas, an electronic engineer, enjoys teaching and discussing various Jainism topics. He has taught different levels of Pathshala classes for over 15 years at the Cherry Hill Jain Sangh. He has taught the basics of Jain religion, Jain sutras and their meaning, the "how and why" of different
rituals, and karma theory. In addition, he has engaged youth at the Cherry Hill Jain Sangh in discussions on Jainism and the Jain way of living life. He enjoys singing Jain Stavans and playing
the keyboard.
Priya Shah
Priya is a graduate of Rutgers University, the founder of the company Culturally Inclined Productions, and creator of the game Desi Chaat. After being involved in several South Asian organizations in her undergraduate years, she noticed a lack of games for the South Asian community to play! Realizing that her game concept had the potential to educate people, bring families together, break barriers, and shift the "ABCD" mentality, she set out to create it. She launched the Desi Chaat in November 2013.
Priyal Gandhi Priyal has lived in Kansas and of her life. She is a entering her second year at The University of Virginia and is on a pre-med track. Though YJA is her favorite hobby, she also enjoys community service, art, and music. Fun facts: she's learning sign language, has met the Obamas, and is obsessed with Disney. This is Priyal's second year serving as Director of Education, and she's excited to bring some awesome Jain education to this convention!
Virginia for
Priyank Shahi
Priyank was born in New Jersey and raised in Virginia. He graduated from Virginia Tech in December 2012, and currently lives in New York City. Priyank works in the finance industry with a concentration in real estate acquisitions. One character trait Priyank emphasizes is having the ability to not take one's self too seriously. As a result, he loves to goof off, joke around, and take each day as it comes. In his free time, Priyank likes to explore New York City, eat tons of different food, and watch sports.
Priyanka P. Shah
Priyanka was born and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia. She is currently a program manager at LifeCell, a regenerative medicine company, in Bridgewater, NJ. Priyanka was on the 2009-2010 YJA Executive Board and is an active member of the Cherry Hill Jain Sangh.
Learner Tomorrow 11
Puesh Kumar
Puesh serves on the Board of KhushDC, the South Asian LGBTQ community for the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. While he works on legislative and regulatory issues for the energy sector in his day job, his passion lies in activism and awareness for the LGBTQ and larger desi community...and Bollywood, of course!
Pulin Modi
Pulin is speaking at his fourth YJA Convention, so he feels very old. He grew up in New Jersey and got involved in human, environmental, and animal rights causes in high school. He graduated from Vassar
College in 2002, with a self-designed degree in ecology of social change. After graduating, he went on to work for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for nine years before becoming a senior campaigner at Change.org where he helps people leverage petitions to create social change.
YOUNG JAINS: TODAY'S LEARNERS, TOMORROW'S LEADERS
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