Sontsa Initiative
We are committed to empowering Tibetan youth in exile through their academic and career journey,
a sontsa at a time
OUR STORY
Sontsa Initiative is a student-run volunteer-based organization created by Co-Founders Kalden Namgyal (Brown ‘24), Tenzin Gyaltsen (Macalester ‘24), and Tenzin Chonzom (Stanford ‘25) in 2020 with the aim of helping Tibetan students in exile apply to colleges in America, based on their own experiences. Realizing how important mentorship was in their own college application journeys, they wanted to provide the same assistance to the next generation of Tibetan students applying to college. We especially wanted to help Tibetan students in exile because there is a lack of resources and support for students who wish to apply to higher education institutions in America.
SONTSA CO-DIRECTORS
PENPA DOLMA
NYIMA BHUTI
TENZIN TSETEN
OUR WORK
Sontsa Initiative operates with two main approaches: 1-on-1 assistance through our mentorship program, and collectively inspiring Tibetan youth through our public workshops, Q&As, and events. Sontsa runs everything completely remotely and on Zoom, due to our international audience.
WORKSHOPS
Sontsa Initiative hosts many different virtual workshops with topics ranging from college applications, scholarships and financial aid, graduate school, and careers. Most of our workshops are recorded and uploaded to our YouTube
MENTORSHIP
We host our annual mentorship program where we match a mentor who has gone through the US college application process with a mentee who is planning to apply to US colleges. Our application season typically opens up in late summer or early fall.
RESOURCES
Sontsa Initiative mentors have curated different resources that helped them with college application essays, such as writing prompts, tips and advice, lists of scholarships, and our own recorded workshops which are uploaded to YouTube.
