This is part of a speaker series designed to help members of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Los Altos, Mt. View, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara to get to know the religions of their neighbors.

Parking: There is plenty of parking around the building.  Enter by the back doors closest to the parking.

Room: The chapel part of the building which is the large room with a pulpit and screen.

Food: After the presentation, there will be refreshments and a mixer in the large gym right behind the chapel room.

Who is invited: Anyone who is interested in learning about Hinduism. There is no cost to join & RSVP is not needed.

Hosts: Scott Parker, Director of Public Affairs, Los Altos Stake, at parkerl@ldspublicaffairs.org or cell 408-839-2334, or Garth Pickett, Multi-Stake Public Affairs for community and interfaith outreach, at GPickett@hopkinscarley.com or 408-398-8755.

Bios:

Easan Katir is the Hindu American Foundation California Advocacy Director, responsible for education, policy implementation and community building in the Golden State.   For many years he has been instrumental in founding Hindu temples and teaching dharma and yoga to thousands of youth and adults. Professionally, Katir is a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Registered Investment Advisor and a graduate of the USC Financial Planning Program.  He serves as a kulapati (family head) of Saiva Siddhanta Church. For three years, he chaired the Business Development Committee of International House, and served as a Finance Commissioner for the city of Davis, California.  He is a director of the Elder William Brewster Society.

Nilkanth Patel has been a practicing Hindu, and member of the BAPS Swaminarayan sect his entire life. He is currently a Manager of Frontend Engineering at Quantcast, a machine learning company based in San Francisco. He graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering, and went on to work at The New Yorker and the New York Times before returning to obtain Master’s degrees in Journalism and Computer Science.

Preya Dave has been involved in Hindu temples and institutions for many years on the local and National level.  She was a 2017 program committee chair for the Hindu Mandir Executive Conference event which brought together leaders and executives from over 200 temples and institutions around the country. She is passionate about Hindu education and Dharma being passed down to children and future generations. She is currently the Education Director at the Sanatan Mandir in San Bruno and spends her time volunteering as a Bal Vihar (Sunday School) Program teacher there. She works as a Reporting & Analytics Specialist at Deloitte & Touche specializing in Data Analytics and lives in San Francisco.