Allen Taylor: First Princeton grad from SVHS

Where are they now?

Allen Taylor is the first Sonoma Valley High School grad to graduate from Princeton University.

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Allen Taylor, Sonoma Valley High School ’99, was the first student in the history of Sonoma Valley High School to graduate from Princeton University (class of 2003).

Since leaving Sonoma, he has studied, worked and traveled in more than 70 countries. A successful young venture capitalist specializing in emerging markets, Taylor was recently selected for a Kauffman Fellowship, a sought-after two-year grant awarded each year to the world’s most promising venture investors. While still celebrating that news, Taylor learned he was named one of the “Top 99 Under 33 Foreign Policy Leaders” by the Diplomatic Courier and Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP). He feels fortunate to work alongside people he admires who “are truly passionate about what they do and are not afraid to take big risks.”

At Princeton, Taylor studied German culture, European politics as well as pursuing Latin American studies. He was later selected as a Fulbright Scholar and did further studies in Berlin, Germany.

After Princeton, he co-founded and directed the U.S.-based nonprofit organization, Princeton in Latin America (PiLA).

Today, Taylor is the director of global networks for Endeavor, a global nonprofit using high-impact entrepreneurship to transform emerging countries. Based in San Francisco, he leads Endeavor’s efforts to match emerging market companies with U.S.-based mentors and investors, including entrepreneurs and local investment partners in emerging markets across Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

The Kaufman Fellowship receives hundreds of applications each year for 30 spots. Each Kauffman Fellow works full-time at their sponsoring venture capital firm, which funds the fellow’s tuition. The fellows engage in a practical, two-year apprenticeship in “forging world-changing new enterprises” and receive professional coaching, mentoring and 25 sessions of industry and leadership curriculum. The program is administered by the Center for Venture Education, a Palo Alto nonprofit dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship throughout society. The Top 99 list honors young people who are having an extraordinary and diverse impact on international affairs.

We look forward to keeping up with Taylor and his success. If you know of a grad doing interesting things, email us at ourschools@sonomanews.com. We hope this column will be the first of a series, catching up with the success of our local grads.