NAHCA Founding Board
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Dr. Asha Shipman
NAHCA Board Chair Dr. Asha Shipman is the Director of Hindu Life and Hindu Chaplain for Yale University. Dr. Shipman earned her advanced degrees from the University of Connecticut. She is an experienced educator, having taught for almost two decades at the high school and university levels. She joined the Yale University Chaplain’s Office in 2013 and in 2016 became the second (and first female) Hindu chaplain with a full-time university appointment in the US. Her Hindu Life Program at Yale offers a space for worship and connection as well as a safe space to consider the contemporary relevance of Hindu philosophies and practices. A pioneer in the field, she is frequently sought out as a speaker, writer, and consultant on Hindu chaplaincy in higher education. Dr. Shipman is a contributor to the first book on Hindu chaplaincy in the US entitled “Hindu Approaches to Spiritual Care” (2019) and the author of “Hindu Chaplaincy in US Higher Education” published by the Journal of Interreligious Studies (2020). Dr. Shipman is on the Advisory Council for Convergence on Campus, an advisor for the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab, a campus fellow of Campus Chaplaincy for a Multifaith World, and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Connecticut Valley Hindu Temple Society.
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Sanjay Mathur
NAHCA Membership Chair Mr. Sanjay Mathur serves as the Hindu Affiliate of Spirituality & Religious Life at Rochester Institute of Technology. He is the past president and currently on the Board of Trustees at the Hindu Temple of Rochester and also serves on the Board of Directors of Heritage Christian Services which supports individuals with special needs. He is a long-standing and very popular invited speaker for the annual Global Citizenship Conference held by Nazareth College’s Hickey Center of Interfaith Studies and Dialogue and has delivered talks on Hinduism at conferences held by Duke and Georgetown Universities. Sanjay has also been involved in Research Workshops on Spirituality and Health at the Duke Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health. Sanjay is among a handful of Hindus in the US with clinical pastoral education experience, that is to say, professional learning and credentialing recognized in the domain of healthcare chaplaincy. Sanjay has very recently been appointed as a Hindu affiliate of Spirituality & Religious Life at his alma mater, Rochester Institute of Technology. For his vocation, Sanjay works in the field of IT.
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Vineet Chander
NAHCA Resource Development Co-Chair Vineet Chander has pioneered the work of Hindu chaplaincy in American higher
education as the nation’s first full-time Hindu chaplain. Since 2008 he has served at Princeton University where he has built a robust Hindu Life program. Vineet earned his Juris Doctor degree from the George Washington University Law School and his Masters in Religion from Rutgers University; he is currently pursuing a doctorate in Higher Education at New York University. He has also served as an adjunct professor, attorney, and communications consultant. His areas of specialty include Bhakti theology, models of pastoral counseling, and the Hindu-American diaspora community. Vineet’s writing has appeared in many publications, and he is co-author of Hindu Chaplaincy (Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, 2017) and co-editor of Hindu Approaches to Spiritual Care (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2019). |
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Preeta Banerjee, PhD
NAHCA Treasurer Preeta Banerjee, PhD is the first Hindu chaplain at Tufts University. She has been a spiritual companion who draws on a broad and deep range of experience, having spent over 20 years in academia, coaching and consulting as an advocate, educator, researcher, and author. She is a strong voice for combining spirituality, creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, and social change. Her passion lies in creating brave spaces at the intersection of contemplation, activism and healing and deepening in spiritually fluid ways, from a lens rooted in bhakti, gyan, karma, and raj yog, including her work as a founding board member of the North American Hindu Chaplains Association; Vice Chair of the Mystic Soul Project; and mentor of the Miller Center's Dignity Project at Hebrew College. She has a Ph.D. in Strategic Management from the Wharton School and B.S. in Computational Biology and Business from Carnegie Mellon.
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Sangeetha Koswik
NAHCA Secretary Sangeetha Kowsik, Hindu Chaplain at NYU/Columbia, is affectionately known as the #pujaqueen, because she loves her pujas (prayer rituals). As a designer/artist by profession, (in addition to interfaith work) she has always received inspiration and passion from all faiths, not just Hinduism. Born and raised in Fremont, California, she did her undergraduate studies at the Parsons School of Design and has an additional degree in Arabic Calligraphy from NYU and studied Christian miniature painting in France. She was previously the Head Designer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art where she deepened her understanding of art and iconography of all religions.
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Shamā Mehtā
NAHCA Vice Chair Ms. Shamā Mehtā was born in India and now calls southeastern Michigan home. A lifelong practicing Hindu, Shamā is a board-certified chaplain through the Association of Professional Chaplains and currently works as a staff chaplain at Beaumont Health. She is also a qualified medical interpreter. Born into a Shaivite sampradaya, her personal perspective and practice of Hinduism is Advaita Vedanta – Non Duality. She holds a Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry (Interfaith Chaplaincy). Shamā also represents Hinduism on local interfaith panels and speaks on a variety of topics as they relate to Hinduism.
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