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Peter Taylor '80 has been the president of ECMC Foundation since May 2014. During his tenure, he has overseen more than $165 million of grants and PRI investments in initiatives affecting higher education outcomes, especially among underserved student populations. The major area of focus for the Foundation has been career technical education. He recently did a TedxTalk on this subject at UCLA in May 2019. Before joining ECMC Foundation, Mr. Taylor served as executive vice president and chief financial officer for the University of California system. During his time there, he oversaw aspects of financial management at the 10 campuses and the five academic medical centers. Most of Mr. Taylor's professional career was in investment banking, with nearly 16 years in municipal finance banking for Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital, where he was managing director for the Fixed Income Group. Before obtaining his master’s degree, he spent six years on the legislative staff of the California State Assembly Majority Leader working at the state capitol in Sacramento. Mr. Taylor is an appointee of Governor Jerry Brown to the Board of Trustees of the California State University system, where he chairs the Educational Policy Committee after two years as chair of the Finance Committee. He also serves on the boards of Edison International, Pacific Life, the Parsons Foundation and the Kaiser Family Foundation, where he chairs the Investment Committee. In his various volunteer roles, he previously served as president of the UCLA Alumni Association Board of Directors, the Chair of the James Irvine Foundation Board of Directors, the alumni representative on the UC Board of Regents, the Chair of the UCLA Foundation Board of Directors, a board member of the J. Paul Getty Trust where he chaired the Audit Committee, and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. Mr. Taylor is an accomplished speaker and author, with a particular focus on the role of career and technical education (CTE) in closing the skills gap—a central challenge facing our nation's economy—and the need for a collective effort among stakeholders to break down the stigma that holds CTE and its students back. His perspective has been published by The Washington Post, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, the Dallas Morning News, the Detroit News and InsideSources. Mr. Taylor received his undergraduate degree from UCLA, his Master’s Degree from Claremont Graduate University, and a certificate in public affairs from Coro Southern California. Bruin Success is hosted by Katie Russo, produced by Christian Chavez '13 and made possible by UCLA Alumni.