One of the best-known global figures, His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and a powerful symbol of Tibet and its unique civilization. He is an important voice for compassion, and in recognition of his advocacy for world peace and environmental concerns, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. He has received numerous other international awards, including the highest civilian honor in the United States, the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal. Since being called upon to assume the leadership of Tibet, he has worked tirelessly for the freedom and dignity of his people. After fleeing into exile in 1959, the Dalai Lama has lived as a stateless Tibetan in India, a country he calls his second home.

Sofia Stril-Rever has coauthored four books with the Dalai Lama (including his My Spiritual Autobiography, translated in some twenty languages). With lawyers of the Paris Bar, international climate experts and renowned scientists, she has initiated the Better We Better World training program (www.betterwebetterworld.org) to tackle environmental and societal challenges with the practices of compassion and universal responsibility, promoted by the Dalai Lama as keys to human survival in the
twenty-first century.