by The NextGenNow Leadership Team
What is NextGenNow? What is NextGenNow’s mission and vision? What came of the first conference? Is NextGenNow a part of FEZANA? If not, why not?
These are just a few of the questions posed to us this year. Some questions fair, some premature, some out of a fear of the unknown, and some simply asked for the sake of asking.
Since the five of us came together on the heels of the first NextGenNow conference held October 2007 in Chicago, the NextGenNow leadership team has done nothing but run uphill, often against the wind, to meet objectives and mandates. The purpose of NextGenNow is to unite, engage and inspire a new generation of Zarathushti leadership to tackle some of our community’s most pressing challenges, and leave the next next generation with a rich legacy through stronger North American Zarathushti communities.
In August, our feverish pace reached a crescendo, as the 2nd NextGenNow conference kicked off on the campus of George Mason University in the foothills of the beautiful Washington DC suburbs. Attracting a highly-motivated group of 50 attendees, a median age range of 25-45 from Montreal to SoCal, NextGenNow 2008: Your Future in Your Hands, was a screaming success.
Your Future in Your Hands comprised five sessions, each featuring dynamic speakers and audience participation in a small, intimate university setting that truly broadened the scope of discussion, enriched perspective, and represented a true microcosm of the North American Zarathushti demographic.
Headlining the conference were panel presentations from Shahriar Shahriari, well-known Zarathushti entrepreneur, filmmaker and author of Thus Spake The Real Zarathushtra, The Void, and The Z Factor; Dr. Rustom Kevala, immediate past president, FEZANA; and Dr. Niaz Kasravi, president of the Zoroastrian Sports Committee, the largest Zoroastrian committee dedicated to promoting sports and sportsmanship among Zarathushti youth worldwide.
Unique to this year’s conference was Look at Me, a series of short presentations peppered through the program featuring ongoing initiatives both in North America and overseas. Presentations were delivered by Shaun Mirza of the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce’s New York Chapter on the importance of professional networking and getting involved, the Parsi Resource Group’s work to raise much-needed funds for youth education in rural Gujarat, and a profile of Tenaz Dubash’s film, Crisis in Faith: Zoroastrians Today, profiling some of the more controversial and challenging issues of our time.
The first session, Leading a Shared Vision for the Future, was moderated by NextGenNow attendee Cyrus Cama of Pittsburgh, and featured remarks from Dr. Rustom Kevala and Shahriar Shahriari. Session Two, Rediscovering Zarathushti Spirituality, was moderated by ZAMWI board member Zubin Mistry, and featured a presentation by FEZANA’s Education, Scholarship and Conference Committee Chair Dr. Lovji Cama (ZAGNY).
Session Three: Transcending Boundaries was moderated by NextGenNow conference co-chair Farah Minwalla, featured Dr. Niaz Kasravi and ZAMWI board member Mehrdad Aidun. The session focused on overcoming Zarathushti challenges, nuances and schisms, and discussed how we can work toward a more united, harmonious Zarathushti way of life.
Moderated by NextGenNow Co-Chair Jim Engineer, Session Four: Community Building 101, featured presentations from Mehrdad Aidun, a board member of the Zoroastrian Association of Metropolitan Washington (ZAMWI), Dr. Ardeshir Irani a founder of the newest FEZANA member association, the Zoroastrian Association of Michigan (ZAOM); and Lily Kotwal, a board member of the Ontario Zoroastrian Community Foundation . Each speaker shared outstanding testimonial on the challenges, hurdles and dynamics of community evolution – from small group family clusters to structured Zarathushti communities.
The final session: The Future of NextGenNow, was moderated by NextGenNow Co-Chair Nikan Khatibi, featuring panelists Kasravi and Kevala, and NextGenNow’s Jim Engineer. The open and interactive session covered the origins, direction, as well more background on the mission and purpose of NextGenNow.
The end result of all the discussion and insight? SMART Targets, led by NextGenNow Co-Chair Armaity Homavazir with support and guidance from Shahriari Shahriari. Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely) Targets helped attendees keep perspective on how to proactively define and launch local initiatives now underway in the home towns of many NextGenNow attendees.
A separate report, to be released within the next month, will detail each SMART target, progress to date and the NextGenNow leader responsible, so the broader North American Zarathushti community can be aware and in touch with NextGenNow initiatives underway in their community.
Your Future in Your Hands would not have been possible without the energy, passion and motivation of our leadership team, and the talent of two individuals behind the scenes whom we wish to personally thank – Zareen Austin, owner of Z Creations of Montreal, for her logo and program book cover design; and Ash Moobed, Operating Manager, at Toronto-based WebnGrafix, for creation of the www.nextgennow.org web site. Both Ash and Zareen exemplify the next generation Zarathushti mindset and commitment to service.
NextGenNow is a collaborative, non-confrontational movement towards a united future in ideology and action. NextGenNow is agnostic to traditional geographic boundaries, cultural schisms, and issues that divide rather than unite. NextGenNow will succeed because its cause is greater than the self-interest of those leading. Keep an eye out for NextGenNow initiatives underway in your home town. If you want to start one, contact us since there is no better time to act than the present!
Mantreh Atashband, Jim Engineer, Armaity Homavazir, Nikan Khatibi and Farah Minwalla serve as founding directors of NextGenNow. Visit www.nextgennow.org for more information.
