Tzu Chi Joins
CSW
March 2026
Since its accreditation to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in 2010, Tzu Chi has been actively engaging, organizing and advocating at the annual Commission on the Status of Women(CSW).
Drawing upon its roots as a woman-founded Buddhist humanitarian aid organization, Tzu Chi has long championed compassionate service and empowerment for all. Gender-sensitive values and practices embodied by both our staff and volunteers around the world exemplify just how we might begin to achieve our Sustainable Development Goals and gender equality, should we design our systems and behaviors with values of gratitude, respect and love.
Coinciding with Tzu Chi’s 60th Anniversary, CSW70 convenes at a pivotal moment, with a primary focus on ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers. This session will also reflect on women’s full and effective participation and decision making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.
Tzu Chi will be hosting panels, events and dialogues, bringing together representatives from civil society, UN agencies and member states to uplift best practices from Tzu Chi communities around the world, and reflect on how we can create a more equitable future for the most vulnerable and marginalized communities in a gender-sensitive way.
Upcoming Events
Some of the events require RSVP.
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Our Delegates
Debra Boudreaux is the Chief International Affairs Officer (CIAO) of Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation. As a senior volunteer with the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, Debra has more than 30 years of experience working on major projects related to charity, medical care, education, and humanitarian aid. Debra was previously the CEO of Tzu Chi USA and Tzu Chi Medical Foundation. She leads Buddhist and Catholic interfaith dialogues and also served as a co-chair of the Multi-faith Advisory Council with the UN Interagency Task force for Religion and Sustainable Development.
Dr. Alex Tan is an Associate Professor at Tzu Chi University (TCU). His research interests include buildings ventilation, thermal comfort analysis as well as environmental education and sustainable practices, with several years of teaching experience in sustainable development and environmental protection. He has co-authored several scientific publications and serves as a reviewer in a number of journals. Incorporating awareness and attitude into pro-environmental behavior, he has taken up a vegetarian diet for many years as well as participates as an active volunteer of Tzu Chi Foundation in areas of charity care, disaster relief, youth development and environmental movements.
Dr. Anton Mari Lim serves as the Deputy CEO of the Tzu Chi Foundation, Philippines, where he oversees strategic initiatives and community development, particularly within the Zamboanga chapter. With a background as a Veterinary Surgeon and an MBA graduate, Dr. Lim applies over three decades of leadership to foster sustainable social impact. Beyond his work with Tzu Chi, he is the Co-Founder and President of the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation. Under his leadership, the foundation has become a beacon of educational advocacy, providing critical resources to marginalized coastal communities. He is a passionate advocate for ecosystem building and the power of collective community action.
Peggy Jiang serves as Director and Deputy CEO of the Tzu Chi Foundation, Philippines. A seasoned Tzu Chi Commissioner, she organizes large-scale humanitarian initiatives across the charity, medical, and educational sectors. Peggy is recognized for her strategic leadership in disaster response and her commitment to sustainability, having pioneered youth-led recycling programs that bridge environmental advocacy with community service.
Sally Yunez serves as a dedicated Tzu Chi Commissioner in the Philippines. After the recovery efforts post-Haiyan, she helped in empowering women to have marketable skills like baking and textiles, turning resettlement into an opportunity for economic self-sufficiency. Her work in the Philippines is further defined by her creative fundraising strategies, which remain vital to the foundation’s continued growth and reach.
Choon Choon Lim brings over a decade of experience from the corporate and entrepreneurial sectors. A dedicated Tzu Chi volunteer since the age of 18, she now leads the Tzu Chi Humanistic Youth Centre, a co-created space with the Singapore government that empowers young people to contribute to their communities and champion sustainable well-being. She also serves as Head of Global Partnership at the Buddhist Tzu Chi Merit Organization (Singapore), where she facilitates regional collaborations to advance climate action, community development, and youth engagement initiatives. Guided by compassion and purpose, Choon Choon inspires and nurtures youth leaders, demonstrating how values-based pathways can create meaningful change and build a more sustainable future.
Jean Lu recently joined the Tzu Chi Grant Development team and Global Partnership and Youth Development team as an enthusiastic and engaged volunteer! She recently retired from Vanguard where she served in various investment related senior roles for 20 years. She was also a founding member and co-lead for Vanguard’s Asian employee resource group. Jean earned her B.A. in Economics and B.A. in Communication from Stanford University, as well as a Master in Public Policy degree from Harvard Kennedy School. She believes that by embracing uniqueness and harnessing difference – whether race or something else – we can compose the prelude to a societal masterpiece.
Diana Kwok is a dedicated Early Childhood educator, trainer, and coach specializing in holistic mental wellness and family relational practices. As the Deputy Director of the Dharma as Water Development Department at the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, she leads a team of volunteers and staff in developing and implementing emotional and spiritual care curricula. Diana also facilitates English training workshops for Tzu Chi volunteers across the United States. In addition to her role with the Dharma as Water Development Department, Diana serves as the Deputy Director at the Tzu Chi Center in Manhattan, where she supports events and programs aligned with Tzu Chi’s Global Partnership Youth Development initiatives at the United Nations. With over 23 years of experience as a Tzu Chi volunteer, Diana has contributed to disaster outreach, community service, and educational programs for college and high school youth.
Lineth Brondial is a Program Officer at Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines, specializing in youth-led climate action and sustainable development. She designs interactive workshops that turn SDGs into actionable community leadership. An alumni of the International Youth Leadership Program (IYLP) and a COP27 delegate, she mentors emerging youth leaders, scaling the impact of the IYLP in the Philippines.
Huey Yi Leh is a Strategic Partnership Lead for the Tzu Chi Merit Organization in Singapore, where she supports the organization’s mission by engaging in collaboration and working hand in hand with philanthropic networks, policy makers, international organizations, and faith-based groups. In her daily work, she strives to support grassroots resilience and shared humanitarian goals through quiet, impactful cooperation. Her approach is informed by a background in Cognitive Science and Neuromarketing, which she uses to support sustainable behavioral shifts at the community level. In addition to her daily role, she supports global youth leadership through action and practice via Tzu Chi’s flagship International Youth Leadership Program. In addition to her role at Tzu Chi, she also serves as a Growing and Learning Consultant for the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in the Asia Pacific region.
Yu En Tay is a youth delegate from Tzu Chi Singapore and an alumna of the International Youth Leadership Programme (IYLP). She is passionate about linking local action with global dialogue to support just and inclusive development, particularly at the intersection of gender and climate. Her journey with Tzu Chi has grounded her in humanistic values and a commitment to understanding the community’s needs. This perspective informs her work as a strategy intern at the National Climate Change Secretariat and her studies as a Political Science honours student at the National University of Singapore. Through the upcoming Commission on the Status of Women, she hopes to learn from and engage with diverse voices on gender justice.
Ailey Chen serves as the President of UC Berkeley’s Tzu Ching Chapter. Her journey with Tzu Chi began at the age of six as a student at the Tzu Chi Chinese Academy. What initially started as a Chinese language class to connect with her cultural heritage gradually grew into a deep commitment to the Buddhist values of loving-kindness, compassion, and philanthropy. Through Tzu Chi, Ailey learned to be a compassionate and civic leader, cultivating a strong sense of gratitude, humility, and fellowship that continues to guide her leadership today. These experiences inspired Ailey to major in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. She is deeply passionate about global humanitarian relief, ethics and justice in international relations, and is eager to put her academic learning into practice beyond the classroom. Ailey is attending the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) as a Youth Delegate for Tzu Chi, where she hopes to contribute meaningfully to global discourse and advocacy.
Jenny Lu has built her career in the global retail supply chain, specializing in sourcing, product development, production, and operations. She has scaled sourcing and operations teams at high-growth startups, led end-to-end sourcing strategies, and built strong partnerships across diverse multicultural networks. Through her experience, she has developed a deep understanding of how global supply chains work, and the impact they have on our communities and the environment. This realization has driven her to explore how to transition her expertise towards creating scalable sustainable solutions. She is currently serving as the Manhattan Site Coordinator for Tzu Chi’s partnership with NYS 1115 Medicaid Waiver, which expands Medicaid funding into Health-Related Social Needs, and provides food assistance and nutrition support to address food insecurity.
Nancy Wu has an educational background from City College (CUNY) with teaching licenses in Bilingual Mandarin/English as well as a masters in TESOL. She has taught in public and private schools in New York City as well as overseas in the past twenty years. Tzu Chi has been an important part of her life. During high school, she started taking Chinese classes at the original Flushing Tzu Chi location. Since her return to the US in 2023, she has attended a few Tzu Chi events and in 2025 started volunteering at the Tzu Chi Center in Manhattan. In 2026, she started teaching at the SEED program with the children that are 4 years and younger. Nancy is looking forward to engaging during CSW.
Steve Chiu serves as Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation’s Representative to the United Nations. In alignment with Tzu Chi’s work in disaster relief, climate action, education for global citizenship, sustainable development and gender equality, Steve works to build relationships, share best practices and develop programs with other organizations to make tangible impacts on the ground, with the mission of alleviating the suffering of those in need. With over 25 years of experience in community based development and local interfaith partnership, Steve seeks to connect the importance of grassroots action to policies that are being developed on the international level.
Tiffany Tu is a Project Specialist at Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, focusing on humanitarian collaboration and youth engagement. Passionate about climate issues and community empowerment, she was a volunteer for over twenty years before joining Tzu Chi’s Global Partnership and Youth Development Department in 2020. Tiffany has experience in running community-led projects and youth programs in the Asia-Pacific Region and since last year, leading the Ukrainian refugee relief.
Natalia Wu has been a dedicated Tzu Chi volunteer since her youth. Growing up and receiving her education in South Africa profoundly shaped her worldview and strengthened her commitment to social justice. Natalia firmly believes in the transformative power of education to create lasting and meaningful change. Having volunteered with the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation from a young age and served as a full-time staff member for the past 5.5 years, she has had the opportunity to translate this belief into practice through a wide range of projects carried out by the Foundation around the world. In her role as a Project Specialist in the Department of Global Partnership and Youth Development now, Natalia works across different initiatives and collaborations to mobilize resources, strengthen partnerships, and empower young people to become the positive change and transfer youth-impacts to actions. Through youth leadership development, collaboration, and values-based education and training, she strives to equip the next generation with the skills, compassion, and sense of responsibility needed to address global challenges in our society now.
Ying Goh has been volunteering with the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation. Currently, she holds the position of humanitarian relief project specialist with a passion for making a positive impact on communities in need. She is also actively engaged in the exploration and identification of new opportunities to advance Tzu Chi’s humanitarian relief mission both domestically and internationally.