In December of 2022, I sat down to write my first End of Year Letter, a tradition passed down from Executive Directors before me. I was sitting at the same desk I am at now, writing to you all, when I was overcome with a sense of responsibility. I spent a lot of my time reflecting on what makes SFT… SFT!
For the next two months, I remember rushing out of the frigid New York City winter and running up the stairs into the familiar warmth of our scrappy little office. Our mismatched donated desks and Thermo Fisher posters sprawled across the table. Day by day, there would be little stacks of envelopes with responses to the End of Year mailouts—donations, messages of support, gestures of solidarity that reminded me: we are in this together.
Today, I am writing my final letter to you as Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. And before anything else, I want to thank you for your support, your trust, and your commitment to this movement.
If you’ve ever stood in the cold at a protest, stayed up late organizing with people you barely knew, or refused to accept that oppression is permanent, then you already understand why Students for a Free Tibet exists. Whether you attended an Action Camp in 2005 or 2025, your solidarity and action for Tibet are the very pen and paper that have written SFT’s story.
That story is opening a new chapter in the coming days, and we need your support now more than ever.
As the Chinese government continues its mission to wipe Tibet off the map, SFT activists are fighting back—on campuses, in museums, at the UN, and everywhere in between. In 2026, SFT is entering our next chapter with bold youth-led activism, constantly innovating and adapting to counter China’s next move. But at our core, we are still grounded in the very same values that brought all of you into this movement in the first place: courage, hope, solidarity, and a refusal to accept injustice.
As this year comes to a close, for one last time, I am asking each and every one of you to renew your commitment to Tibet by making a year-end gift to Students for a Free Tibet. Your support directly sustains the organizing, training, research, and rapid-response actions that keep Tibet in focus.
If you believe that the long arc of the universe bends towards justice, if you believe that Tibet will be free, then together, we can power the next chapter of SFT’s fight for Tibet.
Thank you for standing with Tibet. Thank you for standing with this movement. And thank you for the trust you have placed in me over the years to be a small part of SFT’s story.
I hope to see you all one day soon in a free Tibet.
In solidarity,
Pema Doma
Executive Director