Still Sparking: An Update on Our Student Sponsorships (2019–2026)
Still Sparking: A Student Sponsorship Update (2019–2026)
It’s been a while since our last journal entry — 2018, to be exact. Not for lack of activity, but because this foundation and our sister agency, Liquid Spark, kept us fully engaged. Today we want to share what the last several years have looked like, who our students are, and where things stand right now in 2026.
How Our Sponsorship Model Works
At Liquid Spark Foundation (LSF), we match students one-to-one with sponsors for the full length of their academic program — four years of undergraduate study, three or four years of graduate school, or two years of vocational training. One hundred percent of every sponsorship goes directly to the student. Liquid Spark, Inc., our sister company, covers all administrative costs so that your dollars go exactly where they are intended.
Since our founding in 2016, ten sponsors — nine individuals and one family foundation — have made our work possible. Many of our sponsors choose to sponsor multiple students, and their sustained commitment over many years is what allows us to make and keep the promise of full program funding to every student we accept.
A Note on Privacy
Some of our students come from communities where outside attention — particularly from international nonprofits — could create complications for them and their families. Out of deep respect and care for their wellbeing, we only share only schools and educational studies, not any individual identities. What we can say without hesitation is that their courage, dedication, and achievements speak for themselves.
Who Our Students Are
Of the 19 students LSF has sponsored since 2016, 17 are young women and 2 are young men — a reflection of our quiet but deliberate commitment to expanding opportunity for women in underserved mountain communities worldwide.
Our students in China come from farming villages and nomadic communities in Gansu and Sichuan Province, part of the vast high-altitude region known culturally as Amdo Tibet. Access to higher education from these remote areas is no small feat. For young women especially, the journey to and through university represents a profound leap of opportunity — not just for themselves, but for their families and entire communities.
When you sponsor a young person from a Tibetan area in China, you are quite literally changing their life, their family’s wellbeing, and the fabric of their village. Young people who earn higher education degrees from these communities return as pillars of support and inspiration for everyone around them.
This truth was never more clear to us than in the spring of 2020, when Covid struck. I was deeply moved to learn that the parents of our LSF students in China were calling our board member there — not to ask about their children’s sponsorships, but to ask how I and all of our sponsors were doing. From farming villages and nomadic communities on the Tibetan plateau, these families were worried about us. They understood that the economic shutdown in America could affect our ability to fulfill our four-year commitments to their children, and they reached out with care and concern.
Our sponsors rallied. Every single student was supported without a single gap in funding. It is one of the moments we are most proud of — and most grateful for.
Our students have attended universities and colleges across China, including Qinghai University, Qinghua University, Sichuan Minzu College, Gansu Normal University for Nationalities, Northwest University for Nationalities, Nanchong Vocational and Technical College, and Aba Teaching College. What started in China has now spread to other countries. Our Uganda student attends Bugema University in Kampala. Our Philippines student attends the University of Mindanao.
Degrees Earned
Our students have completed — or are currently completing — programs in fields that will directly serve their home communities for generations to come. Completed degrees include a graduate degree in Medicine, two graduate degrees in Law, a vocational degree in Electricity Systems, a two-year degree in Thangka painting — the traditional Tibetan religious art form that is a cornerstone of cultural and spiritual life — and undergraduate degrees in Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Education, Tibetan Studies, and undergraduate and graduate business degrees.
The range of fields is not accidental. These are exactly the disciplines that rural and nomadic Tibetan communities need: healers, advocates, teachers, keepers of cultural heritage. They are practical and forward-thinking. In Uganda and the Philippines, our students are studying business in order to improve their futures and to be able to give back to their communities.
Where We Are Today: 2026
Right now, LSF has eight active students:
Three students are completing their four-year undergraduate degrees in China. Two students are in their third year of undergraduate studies in China. One student is in his third year of a four-year PhD program in China. One student is finishing her MBA at the University of Mindanao in the Philippines. And one student is in her second year of a four-year undergraduate degree at Bugema University in Kampala, Uganda.
By the Numbers
Since 2016, here is what ten sponsors have made possible together:
19 students sponsored — 17 women and 2 men. 54 total years of college funded. Programs ranging from vocational certificates to PhD level. Fields spanning medicine, law, education, science, art, and cultural preservation. Students supported across China, the Philippines, and Uganda.
A Closing Word
None of this happens without sponsors who say yes — and who keep saying yes, year after year. If you have ever considered sponsoring a student and wondered whether it truly makes a difference, we hope this update answers that question. The parents on the Tibetan plateau who called to check on us during Covid already knew the answer.
If you would like to join our sponsor community and walk alongside a student for their full academic journey, we would love to hear from you.
With so much gratitude,
— Julie Thorner, Founder, Liquid Spark Foundation