The Mind & Life Institute is pleased to welcome Tsewang Namgyal to our Board of Directors. With nearly two decades of leadership in global finance and a lifelong dedication to Tibetan contemplative traditions, Tsewang brings a rare ability to bridge ancient wisdom with the modern world.
For Tsewang, joining Mind & Life’s community is deeply personal. “This organization is continuing the important work of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the work of Tibetan elders, and the work of our ancestors,” he says. “There was a lot of sacrifice made to bring these profound teachings forward and preserve them for future generations. Mind & Life is sharing those fruits with the world.”
“There was a lot of sacrifice made to bring these
profound teachings forward and preserve them for future generations.
Mind & Life is sharing those fruits with the world.”
Tsewang is a Director in the Structured Finance Group of Global Corporate and Investment Banking at one of the world’s largest financial institutions, where he has spent over 19 years financing and monitoring large-scale energy infrastructure projects across the Americas. His trajectory into finance was shaped by a deep commitment to development work and improving livelihoods, rooted in his upbringing as a Tibetan refugee in India.
Tsewang’s father, Gyaltsen Choden, served His Holiness the Dalai Lama from childhood and played a central role in re-establishing Tibetan monasteries in South India, including helping develop Jangchub Choeling Nunnery. When the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959, Tsewang’s uncle was imprisoned for twenty years for arranging horses for His Holiness’s escape. His father barely escaped with his life. “Access to the deep insights of our consciousness didn’t just happen—behind the scenes, there were centuries of hard work and sacrifices made so that they could be saved and shared,” Tsewang reflects.
For over 15 years, Tsewang has worked to bring mindfulness and compassion into the heart of Wall Street. He serves on the Garrison Institute Advisory Board, where he founded the Compassionate Leadership in Finance (CLIF) program, and is a founding member of Mindful on Wall Street. He recently co-edited Integrating Compassion into the Financial Services Industry, published by Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management, where he also serves on the Thunderbird Global Alumni Network Advisory Council. “Banks are the heart of the economy, linked to all different industries,” he explains. “If banks become more caring, it influences other industries too. A caring culture will influence how funds are allocated and what projects are financed.”
“Banks are the heart of the economy. If banks become more caring,
it influences other industries too. A caring culture will influence
how funds are allocated and what projects are financed.”
Rather than dictating which projects are ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ Tsewang focuses on helping decision-makers bring compassion and mindfulness into their process—then trusting their technical expertise and compassion to guide outcomes.
Looking ahead to Mind & Life’s next chapter, Tsewang is especially passionate about strengthening the dialogue between scientists and Tibetan contemplatives, and expanding those conversations to new fields—education, finance, and beyond. “The insights from these dialogues would be of mutual benefit, both to monastic communities and to other industries,” he says.
In his personal life, Tsewang lives in New York with his wife and two daughters. Passion for this work clearly runs in the family: his 13 year old daughter recently raised over five thousand dollars with her cousin through GoFundMe campaigns to help build a science lab at Jangchub Choeling Nunnery—the same institution his parents helped establish decades ago.
Tsewang also Chairs the Finance Committee and serves on the board of The Tibet Fund, the largest Tibet-related humanitarian organization. In addition, he is the key visionary behind the Reimagining Doeguling Tibetan Settlement (RDTS) Project, which works to reframe Tibetan settlements—not as struggling refugee communities—but as vital anchors of compassion and wisdom for the world. Doeguling, Mundgod in South India is the largest Tibetan refugee settlement and home of both the great monasteries of Ganden and Drepung.
As we welcome Tsewang to the Board of Directors, we’re energized by the bridge he builds—between contemplative traditions and global finance, and between honoring the past and co-creating the future. “I feel so fortunate,” he shares, “to be part of an organization that can play a transformative positive role in developing a more flourishing planet.”
