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Bhutan Cultural Exchange (BCE) is a US non-profit with a mission to support efforts that enhance cultural understanding and opportunities offered by and between the United States and the Kingdom of Bhutan. The logo depicts intertwined Raven, the national bird of Bhutan and the Bald Eagle, the national bird of the United States. BCE has built small projects in Bhutan through initiatives that enhanced visibility and opportunities for Civil Society Organizations including youth sports development through Baseball and Pickleball, legal aid guidance and scholarship support, providing small grants and other opportunities to entrepreneurs whose proposals ensure that Bhutanese are gainfully employed, providing services and support to their communities and by serving the Central Monastic Body through a US State Department Grant offering technical guidance and mentoring to monks and nuns.
BCE has initiated and supported several impactful small projects in Bhutan including purchasing and installing a digital sound system for the Paro Tshechu Festival at Rinpung Dzong. This enabled the music, songs, and chanting to be heard across the event space where thousands of people gather each year for the festival. We provided soccer shoes and socks for monks at Phajoding monastery, funded the renovation of Nangyi Aum restaurant, provided video and photo support and sponsored a new website for the Royal Society for the Protection and Care of Animals. We travelled across south and east Bhutan to collect stories from women’s farming cooperatives and built a video to present their stories at an international forum. We have provided guidance, technical support and funding for a Bhutan Tour Company website and funding for a young entrepreneur to develop his Himalayan Nettle tea manufacturing efforts. We orchestrated training for two Bhutanese women to visit Wild Carrot Herbals, a well-known Oregon ‘whole plant’ skincare manufacturer to learn techniques and practices for manufacturing soaps, body butters and essential oils.
BCE funded the launch of the Bhutan Baseball and Softball Association office including staff salary, and advice and additional support to fund their fledgling efforts to introduce the sport to more young people in Thimphu, Bhutan, including sponsoring leagues, raising additional funds and sharing the story of Baseball in Bhutan.
In 2023 BCE launched Pickleball in Bhutan, providing funds to build three new Pickleball courts in Paro and two in Thimphu. Our current focus is developing opportunities for monks and nuns to play Pickleball at monasteries and nunneries.
From late 2022 through 2025, BCE Founder and President Kathleen Kiefer volunteered supporting the Zhung Dratshang (Central Monastic Body) in writing and carrying out an Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation - US State Department Grant. This grant made it possible for monks and nuns at the Zhung Dratsang Preservation, Antiquities, & Conservation Center to learn the skills and begin the process of documenting all of Bhutan’s living cultural heritage including sacred images, statues, objects, thangkhas, paintings and structures throughout the Kingdom.
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