Global Leap Program
For over 20 years, Machik has successfully supported education for over 3000 rural Tibetans through schools, girls’ and women’s education, summer enrichment programs, trainings, etc. The Global Leap Program (GLP) is a continuation of Machik’s vision of education and capacity building for Tibetans. The GLP is an innovative global platform for young leaders from Tibet to share their vision for the future of their communities. The Fellows are early in their career in college or beginning their professional careers and demonstrate unusual courage and capacity for change-making. The GLP identifies and supports Fellows and offers specialized training and global experience to emerging cultural and community leaders who have completed high school or college in Tibet. These young Tibetans need time abroad to gain training that will significantly strengthen their effectiveness in serving their own communities in Tibet. The Global Leap Program is ambitious and a vital expansion of Machik’s long-standing commitment to education and empowerment of rural Tibetans.
Past GLP Fellows
Sonam Topgyal (2017) is from the first Chungba School grade 1 class in rural Tibet and both his parents are illiterate farmers. As a Machik Khelen Fund Scholar, he graduated in 2018 with a BA degree in Tibetan from Qinghai Normal University in Xining. Sonam stands out from his peers as he demonstrated early passion to serve his community. As an undergraduate in 2014, he created the first Winter Education Program (WEP) in Chungba, modeled after Machik’s original Summer Enrichment Program in which he participated for several years. The WEP is rare in the region as a platform for area college and high school students voluntarily offering free tutoring for younger local students during the extensive winter break. The WEP is so well received by the community that parents voluntarily take turns cooking for all the participants. The program has reached over 300 individuals so far with its 5th iteration in 2019.
In 2017, with Machik’s mentorship and support, Sonam was selected as the first Tibetan to participate in the prestigious and competitive SEED Fellowship Program at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. As the first student in the history of his county to take part in a Harvard program, he met many other youth leaders from the PRC whom he would otherwise not easily meet. The Harvard SEED Fellowship is a training and cultivation of talented youth in social innovation. It advocates for civic engagement by encouraging innovative solutions to social problems. Only 15 students are selected each year from across the PRC to attend the 2 week program in Cambridge MA. As the only Tibetan fellow ever, Sonam was able to directly share his experience as a marginalized rural Tibetan with a new generation of young PRC citizens.
Tsering Dolkar* (2018) is from Amdo (Qinghai) and the first woman in her community of pastoralists to graduate from university. Her parents are full time pastoralists who supported her education from primary school through to post-secondary. Given the rarity of such support for a young woman’s education, Tsering gained an early awareness of the importance of girls and women’s education. She graduated with a BA degree in Tibetan and Chinese and is passionate about advocating for the education and economic empowerment of rural pastoral women, especially in Amdo where her networks and experience run deep.
As the 2018 Machik Global Leap Program Fellow, Tsering is the first woman and a powerful example of the need to recognize and support Tibetan women as contemporary and future cultural leaders in serve of their communities. Specifically, Tsering gained the following support: (1) intensive English language training with one-on-one sessions, (2) individual training in feminist theory and feminist praxis, (3) introductions and visits to key women’s groups in the DC area, and (4) introduction to ice cream production, a potential market niche for Tibetan women pastoralists. Machik has long championed Tibetan women’s capacity building, leadership positioning and global platforms and we will continue to focus on identifying and supporting women as GLP Fellows into the future. * Tsering’s name has been changed at her request.
Tsemdo Thar (2019) Tsemdo Thar’s GLP fellowship included a dynamic set of activities that began in Canada with his participation at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival as a production team representative of Pema Tseden’s latest film Balloon. Over the next three weeks, Tsemdo traveled with Machik co-founder Dr Losang Rabgey to Lindsay, Ontario, Washington DC, New York, NY, and Boston, MA, to screen films and speak about the context of film in Tibet today. He presented two well-received public talks on “The Making of Contemporary Tibetan Cinema” at Harvard University and George Washington University. As GLP, Tsemdo presented on the history of contemporary Tibetan language films and his experience as a visual communicator in both film and photography. Tsemdo also spoke at two Machik Community Screenings of Pema Tseden’s film Tharlo in two different community settings, including Yayla Tribal Rugs store in Cambridge MA. Tsemdo answered questions from the audience and offered deeper insight into the filmmaking process as he witnessed the birth of Tharlo since he was a production member of the film. Additionally, various networking opportunities and special photography/cinematography workshops were also interspersed for Tsemdo to take part in throughout the fellowship period.
Losang Nyima (2020) In March 2020, Losang Nyima was the Machik Global Leap Program Fellow for one week in Washington DC. He is from the one of the earliest classes of students to study at the Chungba Primary School, founded by Machik in Tibet in 2002. He also attended the Chungba Middle School and upon graduation, Machik arranged for a full scholarship to pursue his high school education at Appleby College, a leading boarding school in Ontario, Canada. He studied there for the next five years and after graduation began his journey studying interior archecture at Conestoga College in Ontario. In the future, he plans to focus his work on combining contemporary design innovations with traditional Tibetan architecture. For his GLP fellowship, he was introduced to a number of social justice organizations, oriented on the role and function of nonprofit organizations and attended talks and visited institutions focused on architecture.
Past GLP Fellows
Sonam Topgyal (2017) is from the first Chungba School grade 1 class in rural Tibet and both his parents are illiterate farmers. As a Machik Khelen Fund Scholar, he graduated in 2018 with a BA degree in Tibetan from Qinghai Normal University in Xining. Sonam stands out from his peers as he demonstrated early passion to serve his community. As an undergraduate in 2014, he created the first Winter Education Program (WEP) in Chungba, modeled after Machik’s original Summer Enrichment Program in which he participated for several years. The WEP is rare in the region as a platform for area college and high school students voluntarily offering free tutoring for younger local students during the extensive winter break. The WEP is so well received by the community that parents voluntarily take turns cooking for all the participants. The program has reached over 300 individuals so far with its 5th iteration in 2019.
In 2017, with Machik’s mentorship and support, Sonam was selected as the first Tibetan to participate in the prestigious and competitive SEED Fellowship Program at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. As the first student in the history of his county to take part in a Harvard program, he met many other youth leaders from the PRC whom he would otherwise not easily meet. The Harvard SEED Fellowship is a training and cultivation of talented youth in social innovation. It advocates for civic engagement by encouraging innovative solutions to social problems. Only 15 students are selected each year from across the PRC to attend the 2 week program in Cambridge MA. As the only Tibetan fellow ever, Sonam was able to directly share his experience as a marginalized rural Tibetan with a new generation of young PRC citizens.
Tsering Dolkar* (2018) is from Amdo (Qinghai) and the first woman in her community of pastoralists to graduate from university. Her parents are full time pastoralists who supported her education from primary school through to post-secondary. Given the rarity of such support for a young woman’s education, Tsering gained an early awareness of the importance of girls and women’s education. She graduated with a BA degree in Tibetan and Chinese and is passionate about advocating for the education and economic empowerment of rural pastoral women, especially in Amdo where her networks and experience run deep.
As the 2018 Machik Global Leap Program Fellow, Tsering is the first woman and a powerful example of the need to recognize and support Tibetan women as contemporary and future cultural leaders in serve of their communities. Specifically, Tsering gained the following support: (1) intensive English language training with one-on-one sessions, (2) individual training in feminist theory and feminist praxis, (3) introductions and visits to key women’s groups in the DC area, and (4) introduction to ice cream production, a potential market niche for Tibetan women pastoralists. Machik has long championed Tibetan women’s capacity building, leadership positioning and global platforms and we will continue to focus on identifying and supporting women as GLP Fellows into the future. * Tsering’s name has been changed at her request.
Tsemdo Thar (2019) Tsemdo Thar’s GLP fellowship included a dynamic set of activities that began in Canada with his participation at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival as a production team representative of Pema Tseden’s latest film Balloon. Over the next three weeks, Tsemdo traveled with Machik co-founder Dr Losang Rabgey to Lindsay, Ontario, Washington DC, New York, NY, and Boston, MA, to screen films and speak about the context of film in Tibet today. He presented two well-received public talks on “The Making of Contemporary Tibetan Cinema” at Harvard University and George Washington University. As GLP, Tsemdo presented on the history of contemporary Tibetan language films and his experience as a visual communicator in both film and photography. Tsemdo also spoke at two Machik Community Screenings of Pema Tseden’s film Tharlo in two different community settings, including Yayla Tribal Rugs store in Cambridge MA. Tsemdo answered questions from the audience and offered deeper insight into the filmmaking process as he witnessed the birth of Tharlo since he was a production member of the film. Additionally, various networking opportunities and special photography/cinematography workshops were also interspersed for Tsemdo to take part in throughout the fellowship period.
Losang Nyima (2020) In March 2020, Losang Nyima was the Machik Global Leap Program Fellow for one week in Washington DC. He is from the one of the earliest classes of students to study at the Chungba Primary School, founded by Machik in Tibet in 2002. He also attended the Chungba Middle School and upon graduation, Machik arranged for a full scholarship to pursue his high school education at Appleby College, a leading boarding school in Ontario, Canada. He studied there for the next five years and after graduation began his journey studying interior archecture at Conestoga College in Ontario. In the future, he plans to focus his work on combining contemporary design innovations with traditional Tibetan architecture. For his GLP fellowship, he was introduced to a number of social justice organizations, oriented on the role and function of nonprofit organizations and attended talks and visited institutions focused on architecture.