Lhadon Tethong

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]

Lhadon Tethong
Lhadon Tethong in 2011, speaking at a SFTUK Environment conference
Born	1976 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Alma mater	University of King's College

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]