Dharamshala: Secretary Tenzin Lekshay, formerly serving as Additional Secretary of the Department of Information and International Relations, has assumed office as the new Executive Director of the Tibet Policy Institute of the Central Tibetan Administration.

A brief handover ceremony was held this morning at the Tibet Policy Institute to mark the transition of responsibilities between the outgoing Executive Director, Karma Choeying, and the incoming Executive Director, Tenzin Lekshay. The ceremony was formally witnessed by Secretary Jigme Tsering, the Director of Kashag’s History, Documentation and Interim Placement Section, as representative of the Kashag.

During the proceedings, the outgoing Executive Director officially transferred the Institute’s records, documents, and inventory to the incoming Executive Director, while also conveying his congratulations and best wishes for a successful tenure.

Following the completion of the handover process, the staff members of the Tibet Policy Institute, offered ceremonial scarves to both the outgoing and incoming Secretaries as a mark of respect and appreciation.

Brief Biography of Secretary Tenzin Lekshay:

Secretary Tenzin Lekshay, born on 29 December 1976 in Dharamshala to Bhuduk and Tsering Chosang, completed his schooling at Upper Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV). He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Madras Christian College, Chennai, and later earned a Master’s degree in International Relations from New York University (NYU) under the Tibetan Scholarship Programme (TSP) from 2006 to 2008.

He joined the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) as an Under Secretary on 14 February 2003 and became a permanent staff member on 3 September 2003. During his tenure at DIIR, he served in various capacities, including as liaison for Tibet Support Groups. On 6 September 2006, he was granted a two-year leave of absence to pursue higher studies in the United States under the Fulbright Scholarship.

Following his return, he was appointed Director of the India-Tibet Coordination Office (ITCO) in New Delhi under the Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on 16 August 2008 and was promoted to Deputy Secretary on 22 January 2009. He was transferred to the Kashag Secretariat on 11 July 2011 before returning to New Delhi on 1 August 2012 as Media Coordinator at the Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He was promoted to Joint Secretary on 25 August 2014 while continuing his service at the Bureau.

On 22 May 2017, he was transferred to the Tibet Policy Institute (TPI), where he served as Deputy Director and was later appointed Director in 2020. He was promoted to Additional Secretary on 21 May 2021 and transferred back to DIIR on 1 July 2021, where he was appointed as the official spokesperson of the Central Tibetan Administration.

On 8 June 2026, Tenzin Lekshay was promoted to the position of Secretary and appointed Executive Director of the Tibet Policy Institute. With this appointment, he has completed over 21 years of service in the Central Tibetan Administration.