Jacqueline Tsering
Chair of the Board of Trustees, Master of Advanced Studies in Leadership & Management, Zurich University of Applied Sciences
Tibet and Switzerland
The Tsering Foundation, set up to support and promote Tibetan Buddhist culture, primarily in Switzerland, is a project close to my heart. As a Swiss citizen married to a Tibetan man, I am familiar with and at home in both cultures. The first Tibetan refugees arrived in Switzerland in the 1960s. A milestone was the construction of the monastic Tibet Institute in Rikon in 1967. This was where my involvement with Tibetan Buddhist culture began, when His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama visited in 1985. As Chair of the Board of Trustees, I am responsible for the strategic interests of the Tsering Foundation.
I was born into a traditional Swiss entrepreneurial family in Zurich (Switzerland) in 1964. My mother and my aunt were successful businesswomen. I spent my school years in Zurich and the Engadine. My career began in the family firm, along with my older brother. Later, I worked for various law firms in Zurich. I spent 1991 to 1998 at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala (India) as a student of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. Dharamsala is the site of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’s residence and the seat of the Tibetan government in exile. After returning to Switzerland, I studied nursing (Swiss Red Cross) and palliative care and positive psychology (University of Zurich). In 2021, I completed the MAS in Leadership & Management at the Institute of Applied Psychology, Zurich University of Applied Sciences. I have nurtured my devotion to Tibetan Buddhist culture with countless trips and study visits to Asia, America and Europe, and on a daily basis here in Switzerland.
Lic. iur. Christian Winzeler
Board of Trustees, Lawyer and partner at Winzeler Steffen Rechtsanwälte
Law and foundation
I have provided Ms Tsering with legal advice and support for many years. She requested my assistance with this project and I helped with the establishment and development. I will serve as a legal advisor to the foundation in the background and accompany the projects.
I was born in Switzerland in 1976; I studied law in Zurich and was admitted to the bar. After various posts in law courts and law firms, I specialised in inheritance law, estate planning and real estate law, and now work as a partner in a law firm in Zurich. I am married and the father of two sons.
Geshe Tenzin C. Rongpo
Board of trustees, director of the Nechung Monastery in Dharamsala (India)
Tibetan Buddhist tradition in India
The creation of the Tsering Foundation fills me with joy. I am delighted to be able to use my connections with Switzerland and India and my knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism to benefit my fellow countrymen.
I was born in 1965, the youngest son of a Tibetan family, and spent my first years until primary school in Switzerland. It was my wish to become a monk and to be ordained by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. My wish came true in 1977, when I entered the Nechung Monastery in Dharamsala, India. For many years, I devoted myself to studying Buddhism and Tibetan/Indian religion and culture. In 1999, I was awarded the title of Geshe (PhD) by Drepung Loseling Monastic University. I was then entrusted with the honourable duty of serving as director of Nechung Monastery. As a result, I have close ties to the Tibetan community and Indian population in Dharamsala. Throughout the years, I have travelled regularly to visit my family in Switzerland and to provide spiritual advice to the Tibetan community in exile.
