Lhadon Tethong
Lhadon Tethong in 2011, speaking at a SFTUK Environment conference
Born1976
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Alma materUniversity of King's College

Lhadon Tethong (born 1976) is a Tibetan-Canadian political activist, co-founder and director of Tibet Action Institute, and former executive director of Students for a Free Tibet.[1]

Biography

Tethong was born in 1976 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, to Judy Tethong, a Canadian aid worker, and Tsewang Choegyal Tethong, who ran a refugee camp in southern India and worked for the Central Tibetan Administration.[2][3] She is a graduate of the University of King's College, where she founded the first chapter of Students for a Free Tibet after being encouraged by the size of the crowd at the first Tibetan Freedom Concert.[3][4][5]

Activism

Tethong first became a public spokesperson on Tibetan independence when she gave a speech at the 1998 Tibetan Freedom Concert.[6] She started working for Students for a Free Tibet in 1999, moving to New York to do so, and became an executive director four years later in 2003.[2][7]

Tethong was detained in China in 2007 after protesting against Chinese rule of Tibet while in Beijing. She had kept a blog, posting writing, videos, and photos detailing the country's preparation for the 2008 Olympics, and garnered the attention of security officials, who arrested her after intense monitoring.[2][7] She was released and deported to Canada less than two days after her detainment.[4]

Tethong founded Tibet Action Institute in 2009, aiming to strengthen the Tibetan independence movement through the use of digital communication to bolster strategic nonviolent activism.[1] In 2011, she was awarded the first annual James Lawson Award for Nonviolent Achievement by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict.[6][8]

References

  1. 1 2 "2019 DEMOCRACY AWARD RECIPIENT: TIBET ACTION INSTITUTE". NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  2. 1 2 3 "Third Canadian Arrested In China For Protesting Rule In Tibet - CityNews Toronto". toronto.citynews.ca. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  3. 1 2 "La pasionaria du Tibet libre". LExpress.fr (in French). 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  4. 1 2 "'China is under the gun right now'". thestar.com. 2007-08-10. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  5. ↑ "Keeping Tibet 'front and centre'". thestar.com. 2008-08-14. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  6. 1 2 "Empowering digital Tibet: An interview with activist Lhadon Tethong". Central Tibetan Administration. 2015-12-15. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  7. 1 2 "She Leads Interview with Lhadon Tethong, a committed activist for Tibet and for social justice everywhere". Reimagine Work. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  8. ↑ Schneider, Nathan (2011-06-23). "James Lawson Award honors four resisters". Waging Nonviolence. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
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