Full Biography for Alfredo Chorro

Candidate for
Governing Board Member; Redwood City School District

I, Alfredo Chorro, was born December 8, 1954 in Quezaltepeque, a small town located 25 kilometers east of San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. My grandfather, Salvador H. Rivas, was an elementary school teacher, and it was from him that I learned to love literature, math, and science.

For elementary school, I attended poor public schools and a middle-class parochial school. I graduated from high school from the "Instituto Nacional General Francisco Menendez," a military-style public school. Showing a talent for both math and science, I was encouraged to pursue electrical engineering at the University of El Salvador.

I won a scholarship for graduate studies at the University of Iowa. After finishing the master's program in engineering, I decided to stay in this country -- a horrible civil war was raging in my home country at that time. For this reason, a branch of my family had left El Salvador and had settled in Redwood City, where they found a warm and welcoming environment. I joined them here in 1986, found a livelihood, started a family, and called it home.

As for my immediate family, my first son is 11 years old and was one of the founding students of Adelante Spanish Immersion school. He now attends 6th grade at McKinley Institute of Technology. My youngest son is in second grade at Adelante, and I look forward to his continuing there through the 8th grade.

My work, as Systems Integrator at Copper Mountain Networks, focuses on putting together different pieces of high-speed communications equipment. I am in charge of guaranteeing compatability between Copper Mountain equipment and those of other manufacturers. I am constantly being challenged and thoroughly enjoy what I do. People at work say that I am "a nice, but sometimes very tough, guy." This is because I demand QUALITY -- and, among other strategies, I have the guts to let people go when they are not being effective. But I am also the one people ask for when there are tough problems to solve.

I believe that one should work to live, not the other way around. I try to manage my time outside work wisely, and I am happiest when I can share good conversation around a fireplace hearth, especially with people wizened with age, insight, and a sense of humor.