CHINO HILLS, CALIFORNIA, April 21, 2015 (India West): This year, BAPS hosted its ninth annual Women’s Conference that recently took place at 11 centers across North America to inspire Indian American women to pursue leadership positions while making a commitment to take other women along with them. The conference, themed “Moving Forward,” focused on creating positive change that starts from within. On March 14, over 500 women gathered at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir here to participate in the annual conference. ‘Moving Forward’ covered three key concepts: compassion, forgiveness, and perseverance.
The conference speeches began with keynote speaker Aparna Hande, honored as the 56th Assembly District “Woman of the Year” in 2012 by Assembly member Tony Mendoza. She praised the BAPS community of women, saying, “These women are driven by compassion and forgiveness to work together towards common solutions.” Among the honored guests in attendance were Manisha Sulakhe, an accomplished chemist, dancer, and active community leader; Depti Patel, an experienced IT professional; Alka Patel, civil engineer, businesswoman, and president of UFICA; and Anu Jain, director, Operations and Outreach, at SAHARA.