President and founder Andrea Toledano graduated from Florida International University with a BA in Political Science. She then pursued an MSEd in Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania, where she focused on education policy and the effects of education on a society. She completed research for Write4Change, a writing platform for high school students to share creative and thesis-driven pieces with others around the world. During this time, she wrote an academic paper on the future of distance learning in higher education, covering issues such as accessibility, low-quality pedagogy, and administrative concerns related to a different kind of academic dishonesty. Toledano worked with co-founder Marq Cerqua as a freelance writer for the NFL Players Association. She founded Andrea Toledano Consulting, LLC, specializing in communications-marketing initiatives with a focus on non-profit organizations and educational consulting firms. She plans to run for Commissioner of Broward County in 2020 with a focus on education reform outside the classroom by making material relevant and using tools such as creative writing to promote emotional intelligence (and equality), which is in line with Stand Up Life’s mission.
