Executive Director Appointed to DC Commission on Poverty

Cesar Toledo, Executive Director, testifying before the DC Council Committee on Executive Administration and Labor

March 19, 2026

Executive Director Appointed to DC Commission on Poverty

Washington, DC - Today, the Wanda Alston Foundation is proud to announce that its Executive Director, Cesar Toledo, has been appointed to serve on the DC Commission on Poverty. Mr. Toledo joins the Commission at a critical juncture as the city grapples with rising inequities and a surge in LGBTQ+ youth homelessness.

“With nearly one in six neighbors living in poverty, this moment calls for all of us to do our part to address the root causes,” said Cesar Toledo, Executive Director of the Wanda Alston Foundation. 

“As a first-generation queer Latino raised in a humble home, I know that poverty isn’t just a statistic - it’s a lived reality that requires urgent empathetic action. I am honored to join the Commission on Poverty and grateful to Mayor Bowser and the DC Council for the opportunity to turn lived experience into systemic change.”

This appointment comes at a time when LGBTQ+ youth homelessness is on the rise, and the Foundation launched a community survey to map the economic and social hurdles facing DC’s queer & trans young people.  

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