Young Jains of America (YJA) is a committee of Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA) who puts emphasis on projects relating to Jain youth from ages 14-29.

Our mission is: “to be recognized as a national and international umbrella Jain youth organization for establishing a network to share Jain heritage and religion through young people.”

YJA’s objectives are:
• To raise awareness about Jain ideals and principles in North America and the world
• To create a forum for sharing Jain religion
• To instill a sense of pride among Jain youth about their heritage
• To address the problems, difficulties, and concerns facing Jain youth
• To assist and to promote charitable community activities
• To prepare Jain youth to become successful Jain leaders of tomorrow
• To develop friendships among young Jains
• To foster and strengthen local Jain youth groups

Timeline
July 1991 – YJA is born!
July 1994 – First Convention organized in Chicago, IL
July 1995 – YJA unveils its website – www.yja.org.
July 1996 – Second Convention organized in San Francisco, CA
July 1998 – Third Convention organized in Houston, TX
April 2001 – Mahavir Jayanti 2600 Celebration Play: The Past Lives of Bhagwan Mahavir is played around nations across North America.
July 2000 – Fourth Convention organized in Los Angeles, CA.
June 2002 – Annual Habitat for Humanity projects organized.
July 2002 – Fifth Convention organized in Mahwah, NJ.
December 2002 – YJA partners with Veerayatan to send youth to needy places.
July 2004 – Sixth Convention in the Bay Area, CA

YJA Executive Board and Committees

The Executive Board
The Young Jains of America Executive Board is comprised of 15 individuals from all around the continent. There are 6 Regional Coordinators, 7 Directors and 2 Co-Chair persons. The roles of each person vary according to their position, but in the end we all come together to form the core group of people that initiate activities and stimulate the youth of the country.

Sub-Committees
The Web Team, in conjunction with the Director of Information Technology, create and organize much of what you see on the YJA website. This is not only a tedious job but also a creative one. Organizing educational material in a fun and understandable way is difficult to achieve. However, this group is amazing at what they do and provide great material for the Jain youth. If you want to join the team or want to help with IT related content, please contact the Co-Chairs at chairs@yja.org.

Publications team is for Young Minds and Young Minds^2, the quarterly and bi-monthly publications of YJA. We are looking for individuals that are willing to write articles, sketches, or any other educational material. If you are interested, please contact the Co-chairs at chairs@yja.org.

The Education team is looking for young people who are enthusiastic about learning, researching and teaching Jainism to others. If you would like to help bring the teaching of Jainism to other youth or would like to share your knowledge, please contact Neepa Vagadia, Director of Education, at neepa.vagadia@yja.org.

The Future of YJA
Since the last three JAINA conventions, communication has increased amongst the youth from different regions. The youth are eager to move beyond the parochial interests that plague some of the first generation Jains. They are eager to see how religion can play a greater role in their lives. We urge all the Jain organizations to forward the names of local youth to us and encourage youth proactively within their own communities. All the youth and youth leaders may contact any Executive Board member if they have any ideas, comments, and concerns that they would like to share.