Staff – Students for a Free Tibet
Transforming our world
through nonviolent action
Staff

Pema Doma

Executive Director

Pema Doma began her social justice journey as a high school student working as a community organizer with Boston Mobilization, waging campaigns in solidarity for racial, economic, and environmental justice. In 2017, Pema co-founded an SFT chapter at American University. Pema later joined SFT’s team as the Grassroots Coordinator helping establish over a dozen new SFT chapters across North America. From 2020 to 2023, Pema stepped into a leadership role as SFT International’s Campaigns Director, leading several successful campaigns including the Say “No!” to Confucius Institutes, Queens Public Library, Apple Censorship, Free Tashi Wangchuk, and No Beijing 2022 campaigns. In August 2023, Pema was selected as the next Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet.

Pema holds a degree in Economics and Certificate in Advanced Leadership Studies from American University and is also a Freedom Fellow with the Human Rights Foundation.

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Chemi Lhamo

Campaigns Director

Chemi Lhamo is a Tibetan-Canadian human rights activist and a community organizer. She is a persistent advocate in the Tibetan freedom movement and has recently joined Students for a Free Tibet as the Campaigns Director. Formerly, Chemi served as the Community Health Lead at Parkdale People’s Economy. Within the Tibetan freedom movement, Chemi served as the Canadian representative for the International Tibet Network Steering Committee. Chemi currently serves on the Leadership Council of the World Liberty Congress and the Board of Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust. Her work and activism has landed her in the Top 50 Power list of Canada 2022 and the Urban Hero Award Toronto -Social Issues.

In 2020, Chemi was awarded the Tibetan Youth Icon award. Chemi served as the CEO and president of the Student’s Union at the University of Toronto Scarborough and obtained an Honors Bachelor of Science Degree in Neuroscience and Psychology. She has guest lectured at various post-secondary institutions and was a main stage speaker at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Oslo, New York, Guatemala and Taiwan. She is an avid sports lover and translates buddhist philosophy during her free time.

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Tenzin Myinlek

Grassroots Director

Myinle was born a state-less refugee and moved to the US at the age of six. Growing up, she made sure to honor her Tibetan identity by organzing events at her high school on Tibet, leading local protests each March 10th, Tibetan Uprising Day, and by performing traditional dances and playing the dramyen at universities and community centers across North America. At university, Myinle founded the Tibetan Interest Association at the University of Connecticut, a group on campus that engaged in cultural and political advocacy for Tibet.

Myinle first joined the SFT staff team as the Grassroots Coordinator, where she has played a central role in organizing critical programs such as the Annual Youth for Tibet in Europe, SFT’s North America Longsho Tour, as well as the Tibet Climate Crisis regional talk tour, and SFT’s flagship International Cross Movement Action Camp, as well as Free Tibet! Action Camp in Dharamsala, India. All of which has led to the establishment of over 60 SFT chapters since the start of her time at SFT. Recently, Myinle was promoted to serve as SFT’s International Grassroots Director, expanding her effective grassroots leadership on a global scale. In her free time, Myinlek finds peace and restoration in playing the trumpet and listening to Taylor Swift on repeat.

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Tsela Zoksang

Grassroots Coordinator

Tsela Zoksang is a Tibetan student-activist from New York. Growing up, Tsela’s childhood was shaped by the roar of the protest, instilling in her the importance of collective action from a young age. But her official SFT journey began as a high-schooler, when she served as Grassroots Intern in 2019. She has since continued her work with SFT in various capacities – from serving as a Campaigns Intern to participating in and training SFTs strategic nonviolence trainings, such as Action Camp, and engaging in direct actions. It was there – surrounded by individuals of all walks of life equally committed to the cause – that she crystallized her belief in the power of grassroots organizing, the power that is born in the collective will of those who yearn for change.

Now, as North America Grassroots Coordinator, Tsela has the opportunity to work with impassioned young Tibetans and allies of all experience levels steadfast in contributing their skills and perspectives to the vibrant patchwork that is SFT’s grassroots network. She is currently studying International Politics and Environmental Studies at New York University. In her free time, Tsela enjoys hiking, learning new languages, and is currently on a lifelong hunt for the best Pad Thai in NY!

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Choeyang Wangmo

Programs Manager

Choeyang Wangmo was born in Kham, Tibet. She escaped to India in 2000, after completing high school at TCV, she obtained a Bachelor’s in English Honors from Delhi University and a Master’s in English from Indira Gandhi National Open University.

Choeyang has volunteered and worked with several nonprofit organizations in India including Lha Charitable Trust (Lha) before she moved to the US to be with her exiled family. She recollects her fond memories of working for Tibetan refugees and people from the Himalayan regions through Lha.

Choeyang was first introduced to SFT through the Delhi chapter while in college in 2011. She became an active member and then became the Chapter Coordinator for SFT-Delhi in 2013. Under her leadership, the chapter organized many grassroots events including awareness campaigns, actions, protests, and training. Choeyang joined the SFT HQ team as a Program Coordinator in October 2023.

Choeyang is a dog and nature lover. She loves aimlessly walking with her dogs into the wild.

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Topjor Tsultrim

Communications Coordinator

Topjor Tsultrim is a Tibetan activist who grew up in Philadelphia, PA. His participation in the Tibetan freedom movement began with attending local protests and participating in the annual Tibet Lobby Day with his father. During college, Topjor interned with the International Campaign for Tibet as an Advocacy intern. In addition, Topjor also worked at SFT as a Campaigns intern in 2021. After graduating from Williams College in 2022 with a B.A. in Political Economy and English, Topjor joined the SFT team as the Communications Coordinator, leading SFT’s outreach efforts, research, and media relations. He has delivered speeches at a number of direct actions, such as the A4 Revolution cross-movement protest and New York City’s Tibetan Uprising Day.

In addition, he also leads SFT’s United Nations advocacy work. In his free time, Topjor also serves on the board of Rokpa, a youth-led non-profit focused on increasing access to education for Tibetan youth in exile. He enjoys playing lacrosse with his younger brother, reading postcolonial literature, and running pickup basketball with SFT interns.

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Nyima Lama

Office Manager

Nyima Lama, born in Nepal, grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina where she was heavily involved in community justice work as a Bonner Scholar in college. As a Bonner Scholar, she held community positions, ranging from a tutor, mentor, translator, and site coordinator. She has worked with and supported the work of grassroots social justice organizations, such as SEAC Village which serves NC-based Black and Brown communities, where she communicated with and contributed to a growing, collaborative network of AAPI community members in the NC Triad and Triangle regions. She first joined SFT through a summer internship as a Campaigns intern in 2019.

Since then, she has joined the team as the Office Manager. In her free time, she finds comfort in reading essays, especially the writings of Audre Lorde and James Baldwin.

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Tenzing Lhamo Dorjee

Graphic Designer

Tenzing Lhamo Dorjee is a cartoonist, illustrator and designer. Born in Washington, Tenzing uses her skills in storytelling and humor to connect with other Tibetans around the world. In May 2019, she graduated with a BFA in Design at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. In the summer of 2021, Lhamo joined SFT as their Graphic Designer. She's most well known online for her comic series My Tibetan Tendencies, her informational gif set Taboo Tibet, and her comic on her childhood bully with the online publication The Lily. She's also a proud member of the Yakpo Collective and has her work featured in galleries in Seattle, New York, Canada, and Lhasa, Tibet.

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National Network Staff

Tenzing Passang

India National Director

Passang was born as a stateless refugee in India, where she completed her Master’s Degree in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, one of India’s most prestigious academic institutions.

During her studies, Passang attended SFT India’s ‘Free Tibet! Action Camp’ twice, first in 2017 as a participant, and again in 2019 as a student trainer. In 2020, Passang interned at SFT India, where she helped coordinate key projects, including a solidarity initiative with the global campaign to #save12HKYouths, an initiative to stand in solidarity with the 12 Hong Kong activists arrested under the National Security Law.

Since joining the SFT India team as the Programs Director in 2021, Passang has successfully organized key programs such as the ‘Free Tibet! Action Camp’ 2022, and Little Lhasa Program in 2022 and 2023, all while overcoming, and winning, a tremendous battle with cancer.

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Tenzin Lhawang

Tenzin Lhawang

Interim SFT Canada National Coordinator

Tenzin Lhawang who is on SFT Canada's Board of Directors is the current the Interim National Coordinator until the National Director position is filled.

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