Rajvee Shah Punatar

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I used my public profile and scientific expertise to tackle misinformation and vaccine hesitancy as a speaker in series of webinars targeting the UK Jain community. I also led the delivery of the Jain Health Initiative webinar series. In recognition of this work, I received the 2021 Francis Crick Award for Public Engagement and was also honoured to receive the OneJAIN Excellence in Community Service Award at the Houses of Parliament, in 2023.

My other passion is music. Within the UK Gujarati community, I am known as a singer and recording artist of Gujarati folk and devotional music. I am also one of the co-founders and a former Chair of the charity Sansaar, which promotes the learning of Gujarati language and culture through fun and music.

I have been a proud and active member of the UK Jain community from a young age and have volunteered for several organisations including Young Jains, OAUK, Navnat UK, SCVP and Mahavir Foundation. In 2022, I was elected as a Trustee to the Executive committee of the Oshwal Association of the UK.

Background
I was born in Nairobi and came to the UK aged 2, growing up in Finchley, London. My parents are Rajnikant Shamji Shah and Previna Rajnikant Shah. I have two sisters, Neera and Seema, and am married to Ajay Punatar, whom I met through a shared a love of music. We live in Northwest London and have three adult children – Tanvi, Rishav and Shairi.

• To transform our education programme so that our schools can thrive and become sought-after hubs for the learning of Gujarati language and culture.
• To help develop and nurture the next generation of OAUK leaders.
• To improve the Health and Wellbeing of OAUK members through a holistic and inclusive approach.