Tenzin Mingyur Paldron is a PhD candidate in Rhetoric at UC Berkeley with a designated emphasis in women, gender, and sexuality. He is the author of Nïngtam, a goodwill initiative that encourages respectful dialogue and learning on the subject of gender expression and sexuality as relevant to Tibetans. In 2011 Tenzin was part of the inaugural cohort of Tibetan graduate students to receive the Dalai Lama Trust Scholarship.