Daytime Programming

Welcome to Daytime Programming at the 2018 Young Jains of America (YJA) Convention! This convention will connect 750 young Jains from around the world! Daytime sessions will feature engaging and inspirational speakers about Jainism and the importance of its values to youth.

Convention Daytime Highlights
  • Over 125 speakers from around the world and more than 180 sessions between all three age groups that will be sure to leave you feeling inspired and motivated!
  • We will be bringing back the Jain Academic Bowl (JAB), a team-based competition for young Jains! Visit the JAB page to meet this year’s participants.
  • We’re also bringing back Jains in Action (JIA): From the Ground Up, a social impact challenge using Jain principles solve a problem in the world around us. Visit the JIA page to meet this year’s participants and mentors.
  • Additional activities! This year, we will be hosting morning English Pratikraman, morning yoga, and morning & afternoon Zumba!

Join us as we reconnect with our roots with diverse and powerful sessions about Jain Education, Lifestyle, Career & Networking, Diversity & Inclusion, and Current Events & Social Issues! If you have any questions about Daytime Programming, please feel free to email daytime.chi@yja.org!

Convention Keynote Speaker

Nikita T. Mitchell

Nikita T. Mitchell is the creator of Above the Bottom Line, a platform dedicated to keeping you informed of how the world’s most influential companies are taking a stance on important issues. She received her M.B.A. from U.C. Berkeley, Haas School of Business and has been cited as Diversity MBA Magazine’s Top 100 Under 50 Executive & Emerging Leaders.

A fierce advocate for women’s rights, Nikita serves on the Board of Directors for Planned Parenthood of Northern California. She is currently a senior manager at Cisco where she is responsible for strategy and planning initiatives for the company’s $20 billion Americas Sales organization.

In her free time, you can find Nikita catching up on her never ending reading list, training for a half-marathon, or planning her next vacation.

Daytime Sessions

This year’s sessions will be centered around 5 main themes listed below. Visit our sessions and speakers pages to see the 128 amazing speakers who will be leading 184 exciting sessions!

Sessions Speakers
Planting the Seeds (Jain Education)
Sessions will be centered around Jain philosophy, conduct, history, values, and much more.
Examples include: Meaning of Navkar Mantra, Paapasthanaks - How can we avoid them, and Jainism in the Modern Era.
Sprouting into a Jain (Lifestyle)
Sessions will focus on how to incorporate Jain values and tenets into our daily lives.
Examples include: Vegan Cooking, Jainism and Mental Health, and Promises and Perils of Social Media.
Branching out (Career & Networking)
Session attendees will explore and gain insight into different career paths taken by speakers and how to incorporate Jain values in various careers.
Examples include: Women in the Workplace, Roller Coaster Ride of Entrepreneurship, and Branching out on Linkedin.
Leafing your Comfort Zone (Diversity & Inclusion)
Sessions will provide a safe space to explore taboo topics that affect Jain youth on a daily basis.
Examples include: Gender Norms in Jainism, Co-existing in an Interfaith Society, and Looking at Karma, Rebirth, Non-violence and Nirvana across Religions.
What Wood you Beleaf? (Current Events & Social Issues)
Sessions will examine current events and social issues through a Jain lens.
Examples include: Jainism & Politics, Sustainability of Jainism, and Social Norms in Jainism.

Please note that daytime programming sessions are subject to change.