Governing Body

Penpa Tsering was born in 1967 at Bylakuppe Tibetan Settlement, India. He studied at the Central School for Tibetans, Bylakuppe and topped the merit list in Class XII. He was graduated with Economics Major from Madras Christian College, Chennai.

During his student days, he served as the General Secretary of both the Tibetan Freedom Movement and Nigerian-Tibet Friendship Association. Later he served as the General Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of Domey. He then worked as the Executive Director at the Tibetan Parliamentary and Research Centre (TPPRC) in New Delhi from 2001-2008. Since 1996, he was elected consecutively in 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th Tibetan Parliament in Exile. In 2008, he was sworn in as the speaker of the 14th parliament and the 15th Parliament in 2008 and in 2011 respectively.

In July 2016, he was appointed as the Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in North America to the Office of Tibet, Washington, D.C. He formally took charge on 29 August 2016.

In 2021, he was elected as the President (Sikyong) of Central Tibetan Administration and was sworn in on 27 May 2021.

Gyari Dolma was born in 1964 to a prominent Tibetan family from Kham Nyagron in Kalimpong, India. She completed her school from CST Darjeeling in 1981. She received her BA degree from Panjab University in Chandigarh in 1985. She pursued B.A LL.B from Delhi University’s
prestigious Faculty of Law from 1985 – 1988.

At school, she was a recipient of the Best Girl award conferred by the Department of Education. She served as founding president of her school’s student organization. This was the first Tibetan student-led organization dedicated towards student welfare and co-operation. In college, she served as the president of Foreign Students Association of Government College for Girls, Panjab University. She was also a board member of the regional Tibetan Youth Congress at the time. During her student days in Delhi, she established contacts with the youth leagues of various Indian political parties and began the celebration of Tibet Day in Indian colleges.

From 1986 – 1991, she served as member of the central executive committee of the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC). She also served as an advisor to the Regional Tibetan Women’s Association (RTWA) of Delhi and the central Tibetan Women’s Association in Dharamshala, along with many other non-governmental responsibilities.

In 1991, following the democratization of the Tibetan Parliament by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, she was elected to the 11th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile (then known as Association of Tibetan People’s Deputies). At the age of 26, she is one of the youngest person to be elected to the Tibetan Parliament. Since then, she has been elected to the 12th, 13th and 14th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile as one of the representatives from Dotoe province. She is also the first female Deputy Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in-Exile and served in that role for two consecutive terms in the 13th and 14th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile.

From 2011 – 2016, she served as Kalon for the Department of Home in the 14th Kashag. She was also one of the candidates for the Kalon Tripa
elections in 2011 and the Sikyong elections in 2021. In 2021 she was appointed as Kalon for the Department of Security in the 16th Kashag. She is a recipient of the Nari Shakti award presented by International Nepali Sanskrit Parishad, Uttam Nagri Puraskar by the Maharashtra Dalit Sahitya Akademy, and peace of India award by Goa state.

Norzin Dolma is presently the Kalon (Minister) of Department of Information and International
Relations of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).

Born in the Tibetan refugee settlement of Kollegal in South India, Norzin did her early education at
Central Schools for Tibetans in Kollegal and Central Schools for Tibetans in Shimla. She holds a BA
in English, History and Sociology from Teresian College and an MA in English Literature from
Mysore University, India. Under the US Tibetan Scholarship Program, she earned an MA in Law and
Diplomacy (MALD), focusing on international organization and international negotiation and conflict
resolution from Fletcher School, Tufts University, USA, with cross registration from Harvard
University’s Graduate School of Arts and Science and Kennedy School of Government. Later, she
also obtained a BA in Library and Information Science from Mysore University.

She has consistently received prizes and awards for academic excellence, including All-Mysore
Iyengar Memorial Award, Mother Euphrasia Award, and Tauro Memorial Award.

Norzin previously worked as a research officer, senior program officer, acting executive director, and
board of director at Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). After her US
education, she returned to India and served as the head of UN, EU and Human Rights Desk at the
CTA’s Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR). She later worked as a
development officer at The Tibet Fund (TTF) in New York.

She has advocated Tibet issues at international conferences, including the 59 th and 61 st sessions of the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Geneva; World Social Forum, Mumbai; UN-Civil
Society Relations, Bangkok; and World Summit on Sustainable Development conferences in Bali and
Johannesburg.

Norzin has authored and edited books and reports, including 2008 Uprising in Tibet: Chronology and
Analysis (DIIR 2009), Unjust Sentencing of Tulku Tenzin Delek (TCHRD 2004), Destruction of
Serthar Institute (TCHRD 2002), 35 Years: Special Report (TTF 2015); and Nepal Earthquake:
Rebuilding Efforts in Tibetan Community (TTF 2016)

Tsegyal Chukya Dranyi joined the Central Tibetan Administration in 1993 and initially worked in the Department of Health.

In 1997, he was promoted to Deputy Secretary and then transferred to Dalhousie as the director of handicraft centre cum Settlement officer in 2000.

In 2002, he was transferred to the Department of Home after being promoted as the Joint Secretary and later joined the Department of Health in 2004.

From 2006 to 2010, he worked under deputation as the director of Ngoenga School for Tibetan Children with special needs.

In 2010, he was promoted to Additional Secretary and transferred to the Department of Health after a short stint at the Interim Placement Section of Kashag Secretariat.

In 2014, he worked as the secretary of the Department of Health and then transferred to the Department of Religion and Culture in 2016 for a brief tenure. He resumed the secretarial position at the Department of Health in 2016.

In 2019, he was assigned as the Kashag Secretary.

Dawa Tsering was born in 1963 in the eastern Kham region of Tibet. He completed his schooling in Tibet and his school education was entirely taught in Chinese.

In 1993, after clearing the Tibetan civil service exams, which test both Tibetan and Chinese language skills, he was appointed the deputy secretary of the Research and Analysis section of the Department of Security, Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). In 1995, he was appointed the head of the newly formed China Desk section of the Department of Information and International Relations of CTA. As the head of the China Desk, he was mainly responsible for the CTA’s Chinese outreach initiatives as well as bringing out publications in Chinese.

On 27 February 2008, he was appointed as the chairman of the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (also known as the Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Central Tibetan Administration) in Taiwan. During his successful thirteen years as the Representative, Representative Dawa Tsering was able to invite His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Taiwan and establish a close relationship between Taiwan and Tibet.

He has published many books, such as: 1. An Oblation to the Land of Snows (The book is about the Tibetan military resistance to the Chinese invasion in 1959 and is based on in-depth interviews with over a hundred people.) 2. Chinese translation of the book The Status of Tibet by Dr. Dr. Michael van Walt. And also contributed many research articles on Sino-Tibetan issues to over 10 publications.

Secretary Dawa Tsering formally took charge as the new Director of Tibet Policy Institute, the official think tank of the Central Tibetan Administration on 26 July 2021.

He has dedicated almost 30 years in service of the Central Tibetan Administration