Haresh Shah of Wilmington – Delaware, the current first Vice President won the election for the Presidency of JAINA. He will assume his two-year term as the President of JAINA on January 1.
JAINA – an acronym for the Federation of Jain Associations in North America – is an umbrella organization of 72 Jain centers representing 150,000 members in USA and Canada; with a mission to preserve, practice, and promote Jain Dharma and Jain way of life. It was founded in 1981with guidance and blessings of Gurudev Shri Chitrabhanuji and Acharya Shri Sushil Muni.
Mandvi, Kutch born Shah (56) has been an active member of JAINA since 2005 serving as chair of the membership committee, regional V.P., Secretary, and the first VP. He is a visionary leader, committed to unity of Jains and keenly interested in encouraging meaningful participation of the younger generation. He was most recently the convener of the 2021 JAINA convention – the first global online event enjoyed by 15,000 Jains from 21 countries.
As President, he has promised to make JAINA more of a service organization. He plans to create a National Mentoring Program for Jains to share with their local community their greatest asset – education by volunteering to teach disadvantaged youth. He also has a plan to help estimated 800 newly arriving Jain students for higher education from India by reaching out to them early on.
His new team of EC members includes Bindesh Shah of Florida as the first VP, Atul Shah of Chicago as the secretary and Ketu Sheth of Florida as the treasurer.
