Chairman of the Board of Advisors for The Jenzabar Foundation, Chai Ling, announced a major commitment to promote democracy in China. Chai Ling was one of the leaders of the peaceful, student-led reform and democracy protests in Tiananmen Square up until the Chinese Government ended them with extreme force after enacting martial law. She was able to escape, after 10 months in hiding, to the United States where she learned English, earned international relations and business degrees, and then launched a start-up business, which through hard work, a decade later became a leading provider of software, services, and strategies for higher education.
The collective $1 million pledge will fund four specific areas over the next five years:
o Supporting the victims of Tiananmen, many of whom have endured extreme hardship in China or have been forced to live in exile
o Supporting the Truth Movement, which is dedicated to chronicling the real history of Tiananmen and revealing information that has been lost or censored
o Supporting human rights and other humanitarian efforts in China and other totalitarian countries or developing countries
o Supporting efforts underway designed to bring about a peaceful, democratic China