FEZANA’s new team

The 19th annual general meeting (AGM) of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA) fielded a fresh group of Zarathushtis to guide the community and face the multicultural concerns of that continent. The mandatory four-year change of office, in two parts every two years, of the managerial team ensures a certain continuity even as it ushers in fresh thinking and approaches to communal preoccupations. This time it was the turn of the president, treasurer and assistant secretary of the continental body to change while the vice president and secretary continue for two more years until their four-year term is over.

Thus, Rustom Kevala from Florida was elected president from a slate of candidates that included Homi Gandhi of ZAGNY (Zoroastrian Association of Greater New York) and Hosi Mehta of the Zoroastrian Association of Metropolitan Chicago (ZAC). Ketayun Kapadia of ZAPANJ (Zoroastrian Association of Pennsylvania and New Jersey) was elected unopposed to the post of treasurer while Anahita Daryushnejad of the Zoroastrian Society of Ontario (ZSO) overcame the challenge of Vahishta Falahati to be elected assistant secretary.

Bombay born Kevala, a Tata scholar who earned his PhD in aerospace engineering, has lived in Chicago, Boston, New York and Washington DC in pursuit of his career in aerospace, environment and energy conservation areas, notes the profile in the FEZANA Journal (FJ — Summer 2006), to hand recently. His community involvement is formidable: former president of ZAC and of the Zoroastrian Association of Metropolitan Washington, as treasurer of FEZANA and, earlier, chair of its Information Receiving and Dissemination Committee which overlooks the structure, format and content of the FJ. As treasurer he tripled FEZANA revenues, was instrumental in the formation of the fund-raising committee under Dr Jerry Kheradi, developed guidelines for FEZANA investments and donations systems as well as its website, credits the Journal. Father of three and grandfather of two, Kevala is said to have an easy felicity in working with Zarathushtis of all persuasions – ex India or Iran, conservative or liberal.

San Jose based Bomi Patel who continues for his second two year term as vice president of FEZANA has been president of the Zarathushti Anjuman of Northern California for a continuous term of seven years and has successfully chaired the North American Congress in San Francisco in 1996 and the one in San Jose in 2004. Patel is said to have honed his organizational skills as secretary of the Maharashtra State Cycling Association and as assistant commissioner for the Asian Games and the Asian Cycling Championship. A computer science professional ex Bombay, Patel has been working with the University of California as director of hardware technologies and is currently technology project manager at UCSC-Extension, notes the FJ.

Chartered accountant, certified internal auditor and certified fraud examiner, Kapadia’s expertise spans such diverse fields as health care, higher education, shipping, public accounting and pharmaceuticals. Such prestigious companies as Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Aventis and Elan Pharmaceuticals have used her services on a global basis. On the community front the mother of two now based in New Jersey has held various positions on the board of ZAPANJ, has been secretary of FEZANA and served as treasurer and vice president of the Association Zoroastrianne de France during her stint with Aventis Pharma in Paris.

Former president of the Zoroastrian Association of Florida and secretary of FEZANA since 2003, Rita Engineer is an economics and political science graduate who migrated from Bombay and had worked as assistant to the vice president of information and technology in a privately owned company rated as the 14th best company to work for by Fortune magazine, according to the FJ.

The only member of the team from Iran, Daryushnejad graduated from Tehran’s Azad University and went on to obtain a certificate in financial planning from the Canadian Securities Institute and serve such financial bodies as the Toronto Dominion Bank, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and ING Direct. Winner of the Best Volunteer Award from the Government of Ontario for five consecutive years she has dedicated years of work to the ZSO’s Iranian Zoroastrian Cultural Kanoun, as assistant secretary to its executive committee and as active member of its Building Capital Campaign Committee.

L to R: Ketayun Kapadia, Rustom Kevala, Rita Engineer, Bomi Patel and Anahita Daryushnejad

At the AGM, held at Wingate Inn, a property owned and operated by Burges and Freny Jokhi in Atlanta, May 27 and 28, 2006, retiring president Firdosh Mehta announced the institution of the Roshan and Rohinton Rivetna Award and rotating trophy donated by FEZANA in honor of Roshan Rivetna, the outstanding editor of the FEZANA Journal who retired at the end of 2005 after a decade and half in the saddle. The trophy is meant to accompany the Rohinton Rivetna Outstanding Zarathushti Award – a part of the North American community awards presented at the NA Congresses held every four years.

Based on the FEZANA population survey of 2005 conducted by the Census and Survey Committee, Farrokh Mistree announced that 50 percent of the Zarathushti population on the NA continent is married with an average of 1.5 children under the age of 18, states the FJ. "The survey was based on 1,091 responses received; the sample size conforms to 95 percent confidence level with ± 2.81 variance,” states the FJ, adding that currently 36 percent of the population is below the age of 18.

In appreciation of Khorshed Jungalwala’s many contributions to FEZANA activities, most notably as chair of the Information Receiving and Dissemination Committee the Khorshed Jangalwala-FEZANA Religious Lecture Series has been instituted with an initial funding of $ 5,000. Under the scheme recognized scholars, not necessarily of Zarathushti descent, will be invited to present their scholarly paper or work at any FEZANA member association hosted seminar or conference. It is meant to cover expenses of transportation, boarding and lodging up to a maximum of $ 2,500. A sub-committee under the Religious Education Committee will administer the activity.