Jain Principles, Animal Law, and Veganism: Living an Engaged Jain Life

Nov 18, 2024
9:00 - 10:30 AM PST
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Presenter: Nirva Patel, Executive Director, Harvard Law School's Animal Law & Policy Program

Nirva Patel is the Executive Director at the Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law & Policy Program at Harvard Law School and a passionate advocate for animal welfare. She is also a registered patent attorney, biomedical engineer, and executive producer for several plant-based films, including “The Game Changers,” “The End of Medicine,” and “Meat Me Halfway.” As Chair of the Board of Directors, Nirva is dedicated to furthering Farm Sanctuary’s commitment to addressing the full scope of interrelated social injustices rooted in animal agriculture. For close to a decade, Nirva worked in animal advocacy in Mumbai, India. In the U.S., she has individually sparked many advocacy campaigns, including successfully pushing to ban the sale of fur in Weston, Massachusetts, and demanding Jain temples across the U.S. in 2018 remove ghee and dairy from their offerings. She also serves on the International Vegan Film Festival board and is an Advisory Board Member of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA). She has provided strategic fundraising efforts for numerous non- profit capital and development campaigns in Boston. Nirva holds a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University, a J.D. from The New England School of Law, and an M.S. in Animals and Public Policy from Tufts University. Her passion for animals was predicated by the Jain philosophy of ahimsa (non-violence), which advocates for a vegan lifestyle. She lives in Boston with her husband, four children, and two rescued rabbits.

Jain Principles, Animal Law, and Veganism: Living an Engaged Jain Life
Nirva will talk about her experience as a Jain American who gave up dairy after learning about the violence of modern day industrialization of animals. Nirva will share her experience working as an attorney and ED at the Animal Law & Policy Program at Harvard Law School where she is acutely aware of the synergies among Jainism, Animal Law & Veganism.