Daily News

Hector Toledo Appointed to Greenfield Community College Board Of Trustees

GREENFIELD — Gov. Charlie Baker recently appointed Hector Toledo, vice president and Branch Distribution Network officer at Greenfield Savings Bank, to Greenfield Community College’s (GCC) board of trustees. One of 11 trustees, he will replace former trustee Linda Melconian.

Toledo joins the board with close to 30 years of experience in banking. Before joining Greenfield Savings Bank in 2018, he held executive positions at People’s United Bank, Hampden Bank, and Bank of America. Raised in Springfield, he has spent the past 25 years volunteering for numerous nonprofits. He is a board member and chair of the finance committee for Baystate Health, a board member for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, a former chairperson of the board of Springfield Technical Community College (STCC), and a board member of both the YMCA of Greater Springfield and the United Way of Pioneer Valley.

“We are delighted to have Hector join our board,” said GCC President Yves Salomon-Fernandez. “He is a seasoned executive who is no stranger to the community-college board role. His perspectives will serve us well as we advance equity in terms of access to opportunities and outcomes in our communities.”

Though new to the college, Toledo has served on boards alongside former GCC President Bob Pura, and is acutely aware of the life-changing impact community colleges have on the students they serve. An alum of STCC, he is of the first generation in his family to attend college.

“One of the greatest qualities of community colleges in this state is the automatic support and hope given to students regardless of where they come from, their ethnicity, their gender, or their age,” Toledo said. “Community colleges are among the few beacons of hope left across the state where people with little or no money can pursue their dreams or even just figure out what those dreams are with little to no debt. They make higher education a possibility rather than a pipe dream.”