Wisconsin Tibetan Association (WTA)  is a registered non-profit organization (501c) established in 1992 after the arrival of the first group of Tibetan immigrants in Madison as part of the US Tibetan Resettlement Project. At the request of  WTA board members for a name for our community center, His Holiness the Dalai Lama graciously gave the name, Phuntsok Dhargyeling translating as the Place of Auspiciousness and Flourishing. The Tibetans are pleased and honored to join the ranks of Wisconsin’s growing ethnically diverse population. Our  goal was to establish a community center to preserve and promote Tibetan heritage  for future generations and share our unique culture with our American friends.

The Madison Tibetan Community was started under the umbrella charter of The US-Tibetan Resettlement Project which was initiated in early 1989  to assist Tibetans living in India, Nepal and Bhutan by providing for their resettlement in the United States.  Congressman Barney Frank along with twelve co-sponsors in the United States House of Representatives introduced legislation proposing 1,000 Tibetan visas as part of the Comprehensive Immigration Act of 1989.   On October 27, 1990  the United States Congress passed this immigration bill, which allowed the first thousand Tibetans to come to the United States at their own expense and without any government assistance, conditional upon pre-arranged employment.

Madison was chosen as one of  twenty-one cluster sites around the country thanks to the strength of  existing support from  Americans and Tibetans already here.  The late Skip Kindy and other volunteers spearheaded the Tibetan Resettlement Project–Madison,  under the direction of Ven. Geshe Sopa, Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison  and  the founder and abbot of Deer  Park Buddhist Monastery near the town of  Oregon, Wisconsin.  The Madison project took on the task of bringing eighty-two  Tibetan immigrants  to Dane County and with the completion of the family reunification, the total population has increased to over 600.  All the Tibetan immigrants are fully employed and have become contributing members in the Madison community.

With the responsibility and need of preserving our unique cultural heritage, the community members strongly felt the need to establish a cultural center to preserve Tibetan culture and learning.  In October 1999, a much-anticipated project to establish a school for teaching Tibetan language and culture for  the younger generation got off to a good start with the kind support  of the Dale Heights Community Church in  providing classroom space. An enormous task facing  the community was  the establishment of a cultural center for events and social gatherings and other forms of community outreach. Our long cherished dream came to fruition with the purchase  of this community center on the auspicious day of Wednesday, October 2, 2019.

The functions of the WTA are entrusted to a board consisting of nine members. A president and a secretary are elected by the Tibetan community to a two year term to serve along with the  7 board members on a rotating basis every year. With the much anticipated establishment of a community center, the WTA remains dedicated to the formidable task of preserving and sharing Tibetan culture and heritage.