NexusDiaries

“The day is also celebrated outside the United States, being used by organizations in a number of countries to recognize the end of slavery and to honor the culture and achievements of African Americans.” - Britannica.com

Happy Juneteenth!

🎉 Attention High School Juniors, Seniors, and College Students! 🎉

Are you a natural storyteller with a keen eye for compelling content? Nexus Diaries is offering an exciting internship opportunity as a Story Curator Intern! 🌟📖
This internship will give you hands-on experience in content curation, social media marketing, and project management. You'll work with us to find amazing business stories, transform them into engaging content, and share them with our audience.
Join us to:
- Scout and curate inspiring business stories
- Network with industry leaders
- Create engaging content formats
- Manage projects and deadlines
- Promote stories on social media

Apply now to kickstart your journey in storytelling and content curation! 🚀

🗓️ Duration: 3 months (with potential for extension)
📌 To Learn more, email: [email protected]

Parental consent is required for minors.

Wishing you and yours happy holidays!

🥂🎊🎅🎄🎇🎆

Guess what? We've got a thrilling opportunity coming your way! I'm teaming up with the award-winning children's book author, Laura Berry, right here in Chester County, PA!

Laura is all set to bring a burst of magic to our kids with an exclusive reading session. Imagine, a chapter from her fast-paced children's magical fantasy series coming to life!

But that's not all! Kids, get ready to be the stars of the show because you'll have the chance to talk to Laura directly and ask her all your burning questions about writing a book!

This is more than just a reading – it's an interactive journey into the world of creativity and storytelling. Stay tuned for the magic to unfold, and let's celebrate the power of local creativity together!

This will be a virtual session on 9th December Saturday at 11 AM for 45 mins.

If you'd like your elementary schooler to attend this session please contact me at [email protected]



Limited spots available

The kind of support that Chester County community and small business give each other makes you feel like you are a part of their extended family!
Here is wishing this wonderful group of people a very happy Thanksgiving . 🍁

“As a woman, through my youth and into my 30s, I have grappled with many insecurities and mental barriers and limiting self-beliefs myself.
It took me intentional work to break through my own barriers and go beyond what I imagined my limits to be.

My blogging journey initiated with me chronicling my own life experiences of struggle experiences, insights gained, mental ahas, tribulation/triumphs etc. Through this process of sharing my own journey, without ever anticipating as much - I unwittingly was making a positive impact on other women who followed my work. Over 5 years the footprint of that work significantly increased, as my social media grew. Also, I started experiencing unimagined changes and growth myself - the process was both painful as well as extremely liberating.

I have spent 25 years in the space of mindset and lifecoach with a global non profit - and over the past few years I realized that this realm was truly my life's passion and purpose - to help other women feel fully empowered and rediscover happiness, on their own journeys.

With this mission, I have launched a Consulting corp under my signature platform OYL. Here, I work one-on-one, or via group coaching sessions - to help individuals - from Beauty Pageant Contestants to Corporate Leaders, define their barriers, create implementable strategies to overcome them, and meet their milestone-based plan towards personal excellence.”

A series of micro stories from enchanting and empowered women who attended Navixha Kapur Bagga pre-walk photoshoot is posted on ChescoDiaries . If that is the energy for a photoshoot, I can only imagine the power of the actual event conducted by My Saree, My Story - Own Your Power! - By OYL. If you are local to greater philly, and if you are looking to be supercharged with positive energy, it is a MUST attend event.

Details in comments 👇🏽

Part [13/13]: “I've been doing the Notebook campaign for the past two years. This is my third year doing it, and it's a partnership with another organization in Karnataka, India - called Aviratha. We help with their notebook distribution campaign every year. We raise money here and send it there and it helps them produce more books to hand out to different government schools and villages.

The 5K run was the first volunteering I've ever done. This run is our main fundraising event. It's always nice to see more and more people come each year and this event means a lot to me.
A lot of people will think Asha-Jyoti only does campaigns in India, but there's a lot of work that we do here. We work with the Chester County Food Bank, we help with coat drives for women, and there's so much that we do locally, we are so important to Chester County as well, not just India. “

Anagha Gopivallaba, a junior at Great Valley High School and Youth Volunteer Lead recollects her involvement with Asha-Jyothi.org Pennsylvania. She aspires to pursue a career in Education.

“It's pretty hard for me to get rides to places - some of the timings aren't set with me. So I make a lot of the digital content for Asha-Jyoti - Thank you to our bronze sponsors, Let's sponsor our mile marker - especially towards the run. We have so many sponsors and we want to recognize them and what they're doing for us.
That's how I get a lot of my volunteer hours. I can spend an hour or two making it, refining it, back and forth reviews and changes. It's just really worked for me because it's a nice way to volunteer time when I can't actually physically go places.

There are a lot of people who care about being here and doing what they do. Anyone who reads this should not be afraid to reach out because there's so many things that you can do - no matter how small it is. You can really help out in any way. Youth Volunteers learn so much about leadership, you are put in front of an audience to speak and present, taking responsibility as most projects let us take ownership. “

Part [12/13]: “I had two previous projects where I helped out schools in Tamil Nadu - one was getting a water filter for a school, and then the other was providing benches, a roof, and paint on the walls for a schooland because it was very demolished.

I was introduced to Asha-Jyoti when I was in 5th grade by my parents. When we first started the PA chapter we were all helping out as volunteers, getting people to register for our first run, which was a really big deal.
As the years went on, when I was in middle school, I think 8th grade, we were introduced to the idea of projects and helping out schools on our own. Throughout all of these projects, I've learned a lot of things, and one of the most important things is how to be a leader, and how to assert yourself in situations. I learned not to be afraid to make mistakes because we all made a lot of mistakes during our first couple of years.

I think it's just getting comfortable with doing our projects and meeting a lot of new people and making connections. I thought that was a really cool part of it.

I've been interested in the healthcare field for a really long time. But the first time I really wanted to go through with this path was when, after I started my project. It was just really nice seeing how much you could do for people, it just put a smile on their face, which made me happy too. So I wanted to be able to do that in my career. “

Shraddha Arvind, Sophomore at Great Valley High School, and Youth Volunteer Lead Asha-Jyothi.org Pennsylvania

Part [11/13]: I lead a team of youth volunteers for Chester County Food Bank. We'll volunteer for them, fundraise for them, anything they need help with. Over the past 5 years, we've raised almost $7,000 for them. This project was passed off to me by Beville May - one of our Core Volunteer Leads. So, when she passed that off to me I pledged to raise about a thousand dollars for every year of my high school. I was able to achieve so far - but I honestly couldn't have done it without the youth volunteers. We all have teams for our projects, so without them, it wouldn't have been possible.

I've been with Asha-Jyothi since the beginning of the Pennsylvania chapter. I was in 7th grade then. I was in the first batch of youth leaders for the Pennsylvania chapter. I became a youth leader with my own project in 9th grade. I was able to learn so many skills, including, taking up responsibility, time management, being able to do things on my own without leaning on other people because of Asha-Jyothi. Of course, we have our core volunteers, and I have my other youth volunteer leads, to lean on when I need to, but it taught me independence and being able to run the show on my own for my project specifically.

Our annual 5K run is the primary fundraiser. But we also have different fundraisers that we do for our projects individually. So for my project, for example, we do food runs, or we do donation drives and so on. Instead of just monetary donations we also collect physical food donations.

Our youth volunteers range all throughout school years. The youngest volunteer is 5 years old. I have adult volunteers helping me out for my projects.

Even outside of Asha-Jyothi I did a lot of volunteering in hospitals. Asha-Jyoti's main goal is to assist in education and healthcare. So we have many healthcare projects, and I think just seeing the good that you can do in the world inspired me to pursue medicine.”

Dhvani Shah- Senior Downingtown STEM Academy, and Youth Volunteer Lead Asha-Jyothi.org Pennsylvania.

Part [10/13]: “I run a dialysis campaign with my team of youth volunteers in Hyderabad, India. Every three months we sponsor one to two patients to get sessions of free dialysis, if they can't afford it, and then it helps them get off their feet a little bit. Then we switch it out into a new cycle.
We've helped a lot of people. We've done over 198 sessions, and raised almost over $5,000 in the past two years for the campaign.”

Mini Pagilla proudly shares with ChescoDiaries . Mini is a Sophomore at Great Valley High School and also a Youth Volunteer Lead with Asha-Jyothi.org Pennsylvania

“I was definitely a very quiet kid who did not like to talk to people, kind of like in the back of the room. It definitely was like .voleti said previously, it pushed me to get out of my shell, and then we would go outreaching to different areas to try and get support. At first I would be in the back, not wanting to talk, and then I would slowly start voicing my thoughts. It really just put me in the mindset to - ‘I gotta talk, it's not that bad.’

After maybe a year or two, I really got the hang of it, and now I can do it so easily.

I hope to get a degree in business or marketing. As it is definitely a lot easier to talk to people now, so I feel like it's something I would be good at.”

Part [9/13]: “Currently ,I'm working on helping raise money to provide meals for trash picker’s children in the slums of Guntur. We do that because their parents don't make much money and can’t afford it in Guntur. “

Ishan leads a team of youth volunteers at Asha-Jyothi.org Pennsylvania and shared a brief on his project with this non-profit.

The Junior at Great Valley High School further adds,
“I'm just so comfortable with talking to other people now, because Asha-Jyoth empowered me to get out of my comfort zone, talk to businesses, new people, and I just really was able to communicate and think on the spot, which is a really great skill to have.
It has not only helped me be organized, but has given me the confidence to help organize other people, because as a youth lead, I was given the opportunity to go around and help new volunteers.

Being involved with Asha-Jyothi really inspired my own thoughts of a future career, which is computer science and business. I love to present my ideas. “

Part [8/13]: “ Is it OK if I chat with you after I finish covering the event for my drone footage?” was a down-to- earth request from the platinum sponsor of this event.
I can sense his worry in missing the moment. His passion for videography, and the love for the organization was instantly noted.

Here is what he had to say when I finally had a chance to talk to him,

“ Being a contributor towards a non-profit initiative is great, but actually seeing the work that is being done with the help of your contribution is what makes this experience amazing! I have been in person to see how the funds are being utilized to help schools in India. After witnessing that, my respect and involvement with Asha-Jyothi has pushed me to get more involved with this non-profit.

Chester County PA youth volunteers run the show. Asha-Jyothi.org Pennsylvania gives them meaningful opportunities to engage with the community. Asha-Jyothi’s youth volunteers are there to support any local non-profit for any of their events and drives.

I urge the community to go have a look at Asha-Jyothi’s website to see all the charitable projects the organization has helped with. If possible, try to go in person and witness it yourself on how change is being created. “

Srinivas Uppala Founder of Bestofasseenontv.com and one of the Platinum Sponsors at AJ signature run.

Part [7/13]: “I learned about Asha-Jyothi just last year. I love that they are focused on projects pertaining to making education and healthcare accessible for the less fortunate. This absolutely lines up with what I do in terms of financial education, only much better.

Personally, I can relate to some of the projects they undertake. It really hit home when I learned one of the students did not have a place to take shelter within the school facility when there was a heavy downpour. Asha-Jyothi helped fund the roofing for the entire school facility. Now, more than 50 kids are very happy to return to school and study in a safe space.

I came to this country as an immigrant with lots of dreams. I was working in IT as a SAP consultant. Over the years, I worked for many companies in both the public and private sectors. When I was working in the financial services industry, I realized that I could help many families out there because financial freedom is not a dream anymore; it is a priority. With that, I started Wealthguard Financial Group with the mission "no family left behind" and the message "financial literacy." Now I help families by providing wealth-building strategies and solutions at the same time I build their businesses in the financial services industry by providing business coaching and mentoring. We bring Wall Street to the main street. It does not matter what your financial status is; we are educators and provide the necessary resources and information to help you understand the process. The choice to go forward is then up to you.

I see freedom as the fundamental ability to give back. I believe that by setting yourself up to be free to make your own decisions and pairing that with the help of a mentor, you can help others achieve their freedom too."

Srini Padala, Founder of Wealthguard Financial Group and Gold Sponsor of Asha-Jyothi Signature Run

Part [6/13]: “This is our second year. Our daughters are members of Dragon Gym. That is where we first learnt about this fundraising run. Last year it was just my younger daughter who participated in the run, and this year we are here as a family“ says Cole, who was waiting patiently for the raffles at the arena, sitting in the hot sun with his two young daughters.

The 12 year old says “This event helps raise money for education for kids who can't get it otherwise. “

Though the family didn’t win the particular plush prize that the little one had an eye on, they did get to take away a raffle for pilates!

Part [5/13]: “My kids are volunteering at the raffle and my husband is looking after the parking lot. We have been involved with Asha-Jyothi for three years now. As a family we champion their cause and always encourage our friends and family to also get involved as the satisfaction you get from the difference you make is beyond measure. Seeing a smile on the face of someone in need and knowing that you are one of the reasons behind their smile makes you so happy. I only ask people to come together as a community for Asha-Jyothi’s cause so we can complete many projects for other humans in dire need. Every single hand together makes a stronger fist. This is how we can make a difference, not just in India, not just in the US, but everywhere.”

Mallika Produtor is the 1st mile sponsor at the Asha-Jyothi Signature Run. She has become a successful realtor with United Real Estate Philadelphia. She says it was only made possible by her family’s support and gave a special shoutout to her mentor Whitney Yancey for always being there for her.

Part [4/13]: “My father came from a very small village in India. He was a school principal there. He still donates to that school in India. This is my first year with Asha-Jyothi, and seeing that they had a local presence I felt it was important for us to be here and sponsor this event knowing that the proceeds from this event will bring energy sources to those in need that they wouldn’t get otherwise. “

Kruti Quazi is a licensed professional Counselor in the area. She is also the founder of a mental health platform - moodRX.

“I was the director of a counseling center for two area colleges, and I found that those who need higher levels of care, it was really hard to find a referral source for them. MoodRX was born in April of 2022. The platform allows you to monitor your own mental health journey. If they are seeking a higher level of support, we help to find the right therapist. “

Part [3/13]: “I've never traveled to India. But I see this so profoundly in Asia. It's a constant, it's part of the fabric of the organization.
There's a real cultural commitment to this. I saw it a little bit through the Ride for Kids, like most of my other charitable activities, were adult driven. You might be bringing kids along to get a feel for things. But you didn't have your kids doing your graphics, contributing to a newsletter, coming up with a campaign, and then executing a campaign that's somewhere 6,000 miles away.

Now that the 2023 Signature Run is over, we're not all going to sit back and relax. Not as long as is at the helm until next year's race. That's what a lot of organizations do - It was fantastic. We loved doing it. We raised a lot of money for kids at risk, but then we, you know, they went back to sleep again for 11 months until we started recruiting sponsors for getting ready for the next big event. But not Asha-Jyothi.

And I just think Chester County has this mother load of incredibly compassionate, charitably oriented people that are going to just revolutionize the way of life in Chester County for the good.

When I was a kid growing up in Chester County, I remember, I went to school in Bryn Mawr. The grandparents of a girl I went with owned a lot of the land. But now the development's where you all live in - the grandparents, they would have hunts every weekend. They would hunt the foxes, and they'd bring their horses around.

That's not the Chester County we have today and so we all need to adapt to that.”

Beville May concludes her interview with Chesco Diaries with her profound thoughts.

Part [2/13]: “Years ago I was an employment lawyer and I was known for doing sexual harassment cases. Well, back in the day when there was no one doing sexual harassment cases and certainly and I've, At one time, I was a president of the Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts, which was a statewide bar association. And one of our key initiatives, and one that I took near and dear to my heart, was increasing diversity in ranks of women lawyers, judges, court clerks, you name it. And so I come from a very strong commitment to doing that in any way I can, wherever I am. And it's interesting that I'm diversifying AJ. It's exactly the opposite of what I'm used to doing.

I've traveled a lot, I've been around for a while and I am so intrigued with the Indian culture because I've never known a culture as committed to charitable work in anywhere I've ever lived or worked. I mean, I've a lot of European experience.
I spent a summer in Jordan on an archaeological dig where I was very fortunate to be able to interface and interact with the Jordanians. The Moktars, the village elders, whose wives were not allowed to enter their tents to serve them food, but I was invited in to eat with the Moktars. I spent a semester in Yugoslavia, learning about what back then was the Yugoslav culture, which is now of course split into several different countries.”

Beville may (who is also recognized as Honorary Chief Communication Officer for Asha-Jyothi)

Part [1/13]: “I figure today we probably have quintupled the number of registrants that we have from the first year to today. So we feel very lucky about that. And it's just really become part of the fabric of my life, literally.

I didn't really know any of the Indian culture before I got involved in Asha-Jyothi. I knew Satish from walking the dogs in the neighborhood. And so he told me a little bit about what the organization would be doing and its roots and things. And I said, well, let me think about this. And it just wasn't a hard decision to make.
Because so much of what they do, I was involved when I lived and worked in Boston with an organization called Ride for Kids. I rode in that every year for many years. It was also through the Ride for Kids that I mentored some underprivileged kids in Boston. And they became a part of my extended family. But when I moved down to Pennsylvania, there was no Ride for Kids here. So I couldn't continue that interaction with kids who were at risk or fundraising for them. And then Asha-Jyothi came along and was like, Oh, this is a perfect match. I've done this before and love doing this again.

I'm very lucky in the sense that I've traveled a fair amount abroad and I actually lived in France for a while. So I have what I refer to as my French family, and I'm very tight with my French family. I pick up where I leave off with them if I'm able to get over there every five or six years or something. But now I have an Indian family as well. I mean, it truly is. And it's really exciting.”

Beville May, Core volunteer Lead, Asha-Jyothi

I’m truly excited to share an extraordinary experience of being a part of Asha-Jyothi.org Pennsylvania 5K signature Run. I had the most profound experience of meeting so many leaders, be it kids or adults, who are very intentional about investing in making the world a better place.

I invite you stay tuned to see the story unfold right here ChescoDiaries.

Comment with your pictures from the race if you did attend! 👇🏽👇🏽💬💬

[Part 2/2] : Handing out t-shirts and race bibs, Satish was politely welcoming folks coming to pick them up. I decided to hang around and listen to the prep story for this event. His unassuming and thoughtful actions shined as he profusely offered a chair for me to sit comfortably while we chatted.
“We are running out of t-shirt, it is a good thing! We have so much support this year. Expecting a turnout close to 1000 racers. We have divided all the work between teams. If you drive around the curve you will see folks loading the truck for the vent tomorrow. We arrive around 7 to get all set up for our event tomorrow.”
The smiles and excitement was evident in their banter that showed mutual respect and admiration between these men.

I accepted their invitation to check out the truck loading team and drove my way around the curve. Several cars lined up outside a home and a huge truck was parked in its driveway. Carton boxes with sponsor supplies such as juices, snacks, water bottles, banners, flag posts, and more being hustled into position to be loaded into the truck. A friendly face smiled at me and I was flattered to know she remembered me from the event that I had the privilege of covering.

Neelima has been a volunteer with Ashajyoti since it’s PA inception chapter.
“The preparation for this annual event starts the minute the past year event ends. The prep gains traction by lining up sponsors and venues at least 9 months ahead of the event. With awareness about ashajyothi increasing as each year passes, we open up the registration for this event 6 months prior to the race date. Countless hours of coordination goes in, and as the date approaches we give the prep work priority over our sleep. Our whole family is involved including our kids. It is such a gratifying effort. It is like a family wedding! “

I’m gearing up to experience the grand event tomorrow. Come check them out if you are in the neighbourhood. Race day link in their page Asha-Jyothi.org Pennsylvania

[Part 1/2] : I have heard of them in passing and perhaps witnessed some social media posts about their activities but NEVER imagined the depth of their contribution to our community.
When Sri Ghatta invited me to come to this event, I just thought it would be fun to get my family involved. The goodness of the chapter lead did not just stop at inviting me for the event but also educating me about the very inspiring work they do through their Youth Leadership Volunteer Program.

What can be more reassuring when someone believes in you and your initiative. That kind of empowerment and support is like getting super charged like solar panels in Sahara. True to his empowerment statement at the photoshoot event, Sri opened up an opportunity that I could not resist - an opportunity to cover their signature 5K run. He was quick to facilitate the logistics of getting the core team onboarded with that idea. I’m excited ! Waiting to soak in all the stories and share it with you all!

But why wait till tomorrow when I can start today? As I await my turn to pick up my T-shirts and bibs. I got to meet other volunteers of this organization. Some faces radiate peace the minute you see them - such as those of Satish’s and Sri’s - a couple of pillars of this Asha-Jyothi.org Pennsylvania

What a day! So much happening in our community! So many wonderful people working towards so many fantastic causes.
After finishing up a lunch with a women leader on a mission to make a difference for the business community, I headed to an event to support - my close to the heart non-profit -
A Child's Light at the Paoli Blues Fest . As I neared the entrance of the Park to the fest, the map detected slow traffic towards my destination. I decided to park at the first place I saw and walk towards the event. I noted distant tents and beats of music reach my ear as I was contemplating following a trail or walking across the field . Deciding the latter, I proceeded to approach the event area.

I looked to my right as people found seats to enjoy the show while I noted the event vendors' tents right in front of me. It is hard work, to spread awareness, to educate people, to seek support. But ACL and many others were there to invest in their mission. Leslie tells me it is 10 times likely that children who have gone through trauma are likely to yield to substance use. ACL’s swags were not just a memento but those that can create awareness amongst the community on how to help these kids from becoming victims of substance abuse.

I witnessed a gentleman stopping by the ACL booth and just after a quick enquiry about the mission, deposited a handsome sum to the donation box. We were speechless with the generosity of this believer of good deeds. I can see that this small act of kindness and unassuming gesture truly moved the ACL flag-bearers and meant more than what words can express.

You can not but feel so proud to be a part of a community that cares.