Alejandro Toledo was born on March 28, 1946 in a poverty-stricken part of Peru, high in the Andes, to a large indigenous family. He worked as a child at anything available. He finished high school and at the age of eleven, became a news correspondent for La Prensa. He met a couple of Peace Corps volunteers, Joel and Nancy Meister, in the 1960s when the Peace Corps and John Kennedy put an emphasis on community development programs. They helped him obtain a scholarship to go to the University of San Francisco in California, and he started intensive English courses, played soccer for the Dons, and also professional soccer to supplement my income. He studied Economics and Business Administration.
After graduation, he decided to stay in the Bay Area, and went to Stanford. for two Masters, one in Education and one in Economics of Human Resources and a PhD in Human Resources and Education.
President Alejandro Toledo was the first person of Quechua decent to be elected president of Peru, serving from July 2001 to July 2006. In 2000, Toledo was a leading figure in the movement that toppled President Alberto Fujimori’s authoritarian regime. Following Fujimori’s controversial re-election, which was surrounded by fraud allegations, Toledo organized mass street protests that ultimately forced the President’s resignation. Toledo emerged victorious in Peru’s subsequent presidential election in April 2001.
As president, Toledo implemented policies to reduce poverty by investing in the country’s health and educational systems. As a result of sustained economic growth and deliberate social policies directed at assisting the poor, extreme poverty was reduced by 25 percent in five years. Since leaving office, Toledo has continued to be a leading voice in international development. He recently founded the Lima-based Global Center for Development and Democracy. Through this organization, Toledo works to promote sustainable democracies and economic self-sufficiency in the developing world (BushCenter.org).
