Alex Freitas Gusmao was born in a mountainous subsistence farming region of East Timor some time in the late 1960s. He became an organizer in the underground student resistance whilst undertaking a Bachelors degree in Indonesia. Gusmao was a founding member of Timor Aid, East Timor's largest local non-government organization, and was its CEO for five years. He now lectures at the National University of Timor Leste, whilst maintaining a very active involvement in a range of educational and community development organizations around the country.

He has a degree in Community Development from Victoria University, Melbourne, and has published a number of papers on local forms of peacebuilding and governance in East Timor.

World Affairs,