Joshua A. Garcia was elected mayor of Holyoke on November 2, 2021, and has served as the School Committee Chair since that time. He also was the Ward 1 representative for the School Committee member in 2012 and 2013. He is currently the Chairperson of the Middle School Building Committee to build a new middle school for 550 students by the end of 2025. 

Prior to being Holyoke’s mayor, Mr. Garcia was the Town Administrator of Blandford, Massachusetts. He also worked at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and the Holyoke Housing Authority. He has served as a member of the Holyoke Fire Commission, Holyoke Community College Foundation Board, the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, the MIIA Health Group Trust, Nueva Esperanza, and International Volleyball Hall of Fame. 

Mayor Garcia is a lifelong resident of Holyoke, having gone through the public school system and graduating from Holyoke High School. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, with a minor in Regional Planning, and Master’s Degree in Public Administration, both from Westfield State University. His wife, Stefany, works at Donahue Elementary School, and his two children, Ethan and Allison, are in the dual language program at Sullivan Middle School. 

Erin Brunelle has been on the Holyoke School Committee since 2014 and is the vice chair in 2024. Ms. Brunelle first decided to join the School Committee when her daughter (who is now in high school) was in kindergarten because she wanted to proactively contribute to Holyoke Public Schools being the top choice for Holyoke residents, an aspiration she continues to work towards. While on the School Committee, Ms. Brunelle has championed the expansion of the dual language program, where students become bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural in English and Spanish. She is vice chair of the School Building Committee for 2024 and has been deeply involved with identifying a building design that meets the needs of the district and a reasonable cost for the city. The new middle school is scheduled to be built by late 2025. She is a well-known realtor, serving future and current homeowners in Holyoke and western Massachusetts. Ms. Brunelle is a 2000 graduate of Holyoke High School and also attended McMahon, Donahue, and Peck Schools. Her children are currently enrolled in the dual language program at Sullivan Middle School and Holyoke High School North. 

Mildred Lefebvre has served as School Committee member, both at-large and as the Ward 1 representative, since 2014, including a long tenure as the vice chair. During her time, she has focused on ensuring equitable education for all students, with an emphasis on addressing equity for students who receive special education services. She also serves as the chair for the National Hispanic Council of School Board Members, which identifies and addresses the educational needs and barriers of the Latino/Hispanic community, its students and families. Further, Ms. Lefebvre is president of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees where she continues to identify and address the issues facing our underrepresented voices along with her colleagues. 

Beyond her commitment to improving public education, Ms. Lefebvre is an engaged professional in Western Massachusetts. She has served as a licensed practical nurse for more than 23 years. In 2021, she graduated from Holyoke Community College with an associate’s degree in nursing, and in 2022 she graduated from American International college with a bachelor’s of science degree in nursing. Ms. Lefebvre has held various health care roles, including direct care, management, quality assurance, and teaching. She currently works as a visiting nurse caring for clients in the community. 

Her personal experience with special education has allowed her to be an advocate for families and students who struggle with mental health or disabilities to ensure their children receive an equitable education with the support and resources they need to succeed. She and her children have attended Holyoke Public Schools. 

Gustavo O. Romero is the Ward 1 School Committee representative. He also served on the HPS Rezoning Task Force in 2022 to support the district to move to separate elementary and middle schools. 

Mr. Romero is an artist and graphic designer who owns a local company, G2N Studios. His personal goal is to bring beauty to the world, which is what motivated him to create and collaborate with others to paint murals that can be found throughout our city parks, often covering negative messages with positive images. He also served as an Americorps member supporting grassroots volunteer efforts in downtown neighborhoods, such as community clean-ups, food bank distribution, and community-building initiatives. 

He earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from Westfield State University and an associate of arts and sciences degree in photography from Holyoke Community College. He credits his 8th grade art teacher, Dr. Lora Barrett, at Peck Middle for inspiring him to become an artist. He was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Holyoke in 1998. He has two children in the school district.

Yadilette "Yady" Rivera-Colón joined the School Committee in 2022 as the Ward 3 representative. She is the chair of the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) sub-committee and was the Holyoke School Committee delegate for the Delegate Assembly during the 2023 MASC conference. She joined the School Committee because she saw the opportunity to serve her community and volunteered to fill a then-vacant seat. Making education accessible is one of her life commitments and what better way to contribute to that commitment than serving Holyoke's youth. 

Dr. Rivera-Colón is an associate professor of biology and undergraduate science program research coordinator at Bay Path University. She earned her bachelor's degree in natural sciences from the University of Puerto Rico, Cayey in 2008 and her doctorate degree in molecular and cellular biology in 2013 from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. After completing her doctorate, she became an IRACDA Post-doctoral fellow at the PENN-Professional Opportunities for Research and Teaching at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Dr. Rivera-Colón is a native of Puerto Rico and a first-generation college graduate. She has a passion for connecting with underserved populations, particularly women of color, to share her love of science. On any given day, you can find Dr. Rivera-Coon at one of the labs at Bay Path helping students with their research projects, teaching a class in biochemistry, or visiting Holyoke Public Schools to open students to the wonders of the scientific world. Her mission is to train the next generation of women scientists. She lives in Holyoke with her partner and young daughter, whom she plans to send to Holyoke Public Schools in the future.

Dr. Gloria Caballero joined the Holyoke School Committee in 2024 as the Ward 4 representative. Dr. Caballero decided to join the School Committee because she wants to work with all stakeholders to develop a community that thrives, that is safe, and where people can find spaces of learning. She brings a multidisciplinary approach to solving problems to the School Committee. 

Dr. Caballero teaches at Bard College, which is a part of the Care Center; Enlace de Familias; and Holyoke Community College. She is also a translator and interpreter at UMass and Neighbor to Neighbor. Dr. Caballero was originally born in Santiago de Cuba, moved to Havana as a young child, and moved to Holyoke in 1999 while attending graduate school. She has two PhDs and two master’s degrees. Her two sons attended and graduated from Holyoke Public Schools. 

Jay Whelihan served as an at-large School Committee member from 2013-2015. He rejoined the School Committee in 2020 and has served since then as the Ward 5 representative. He joined the School Committee because he believes every student deserves a quality education and path to success, and because he loves to give back to the community where he was born and raised. Mr. Whelihan was involved with creating the Holyoke Public Schools Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017 to honor the achievements and contributions to athletics in Holyoke Public Schools. Mr. Whelihan serves as chair of the Finance Committee and was previously chair of the Policy Committee. Mr. Whelihan is chief assessor in the Town of Belchertown. He also serves as treasurer of the Hampden/Hampshire Counties Assessor’s Association and treasurer of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish Catholic organization. He has also served on the City’s Charter Commission, Holyoke City Council, and Holyoke Redevelopment Authority. He is a graduate of Holyoke High School and American International College. 

Eleanor “Ellie” Wilson grew up in Holyoke. She attended Highland School, Lynch Junior High School, and graduated from Holyoke High School. After a career in school admissions and human resources, she decided to pursue her passion in education. She has worked at Donahue and Kelly Schools as a paraeducator, special education teacher, and Educational Team Leader (ETL). She is now an ETL at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School. She decided to join the Holyoke School Committee in 2021 because she is passionate about ensuring that Holyoke students and families are treated equally. Ms. Willson is chair of the Policy/Procedure Subcommittee. She has also served on the district’s Retention Working Group, which is developing strategies to strengthen teacher retention in Holyoke.

Ms. Wilson is also a beloved youth coach and active community leader. She has been coaching youth field hockey in Holyoke for more than 10 years. In partnership with Holyoke Parks and Recreation, she organizes the Valley Cup Field Hockey Tournament each October. In 2016, she realized a long-time dream and established the Holyoke Girls Lacrosse program. Recently, Ms. Wilson became the Massachusetts Association for School Committees Special Education Committee chairperson and vice chair for District 5, which covers the Connecticut Valley region.

She has a bachelor’s degree from Elms College in business management, a master’s degree in mathematics from Lesley University, and a graduate study of management certificate from Western New England University. She has also taken classes to become a reading specialist. She is proud of the work the Holyoke School Committee “is doing in order to be prepared to take back local reigns and steer our school system once again.”