2019 Democracy Award Recipient: Tibet Action Institute
Founded in 2009, the Tibet Action Institute brings together digital communication tools with strategic nonviolent action to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of the Tibet movement in a digital era. Tibet Action's team, comprised of technologists and human rights advocates, develops and advances open-source communication technologies, nonviolent strategies, and innovative training programs for Tibetans with a particular focus on digital security and harnessing the power of digital technologies.
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Lhadon Tethong
Lhadon Tethong is co-founder and director of the Tibet Action Institute, where she leads a team of technologists and human rights advocates in developing and advancing open-source communication technologies, nonviolent strategies, and innovative training programs for Tibetans and other groups facing heavy repression. A visionary strategist, she has spent two decades building a powerful nonviolent movement for Tibet’s freedom and driving innovative economic and political campaigns to counter China’s rule in Tibet. She previously served as Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet from 2002-2009, where she led the high-profile global campaign to condemn China’s rule of Tibet in the lead-up to and during the 2008 Olympic Games. Tethong made international headlines as she posted real-time accounts of her travels through Beijing on her blog BeijingWideOpen.org – one of the first in the Tibetan world – before being detained and deported. Lhadon was awarded the first-ever James Lawson Award for Nonviolent Achievement by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict in 2011 and currently serves as Co-Chair of the International Tibet Network, the global coalition of Tibet-related non-governmental organizations.
Read Lhadon's acceptance remarks from the 2019 Democracy Award.2019 Democracy Award Recipients
ChinaAid
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ChinaAid is an international non-profit Christian human rights organization committed to promoting religious freedom and the rule of law in China.
Tibet Action Institute
![](https://www.ned.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Tibet-Action-Institute.jpg)
The Tibet Action Institute brings together digital communication tools with strategic nonviolent action to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of the Tibet movement in a digital era.
World Uyghur Congress
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The World Uyghur Congress promotes democracy, human rights, and freedom for the Uyghur people and supports the use of peaceful, nonviolent, and democratic means to help Uyghurs achieve self-determination.