Greg Mortenson, is an American humanitarian, professional speaker, writer, and former mountaineer. He is the co-founder and executive director of the non-profit Central Asia Institute as well as the founder of the educational charity Pennies for Peace. Mortenson is the author or co-author of the New York Times Bestsellers Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In April 2011, he was accused of using literary license in his non-fiction books and of financial improprieties at his charity, Central Asia Institute. Greg... Mortenson was born to Lutheran missionary parents in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Through the leadership of the Lutheran Church, Mortenson's father, Irvin , was a fundraiser for and development director of the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, Tanzania's first teaching hospital. Mortenson's mother, Jerene, was the founding principal of International School Moshi. Mortenson spent his early childhood and adolescence in Tanzania, East Africa, where he learned to speak Swahili fluently.
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