From India to Toronto, Detroit to Edmonton, and Derasar to Zoom, Kriti Shah has associated with a Jain community everywhere she’s lived. Though her house changed every time she moved cities, she has always found a home at her local Jain Sangh. While her attendance at Sangh events was initially driven by her parents’ heavy involvement with the Toronto and Detroit Sanghs, she quickly began to enjoy it on her own accord, making friends through Pathshala and other events. However, when she moved to Edmonton, AB, Canada at the age of 11, Kriti found that she missed the energy of the large Jain communities she had been a part of before. In search of that sense of home, she spent the next 12 years gradually building up a youth community, organizing events, and taking on leadership positions at the Jain Society of Alberta (JSoA).
YOUNG MIND, LARGE COMMUNITY
Kriti Shah, 25-Year Old President of a Jain Sangh Vidhi Piparia, Juhi Shah
32
Shortly after moving to Edmonton, Kriti started a youth group in an effort to replicate the same kind of community that she had grown up with in India, Detroit, and Toronto. She energized the youth and adults of JSoA by bringing social events to their regular programming. As the youth coordinator, she, along with her team, organized activities such as game nights and a Jain and vegan Rasoi Youth Cookoff, and collaborated with other Canadian Jain societies. Soon after, she started the Pathshala program as a teacher, served as Vice President for two years, and was recently elected President of JSoA Executive Board for the 2021-2023 term at only 25 years old, becoming one of the youngest Jain Sangh presidents in North America.
