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. 

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. 

Devin Sheehan was appointed as an at large representative to the Holyoke School Committee in June 2024. He previously served on the School Committee from 2010 to 2022. Mr. Sheehan is a lifelong resident of Holyoke. He attended McMahon, Sullivan, and Peck schools and graduated from Holyoke High School. He has extensive experience in public policy, education, and legislative affairs. He is currently chief of staff for State Senator Jacob Oliveira in the Massachusetts General Court. Prior to this position, he was a senior analyst for the Instructional Department of Springfield Public Schools.

Mr. Sheehan is deeply involved in national, state, and community organizations. He is president-elect of the National School Boards Association, representing more than 90,000 school board members across the nation. He has also served as president of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, president of the St. Patrick’s Parade Committee of Holyoke, member of the Distribution Committee for the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, and member of the Greater Commonwealth Virtual School Board of Trustees. 

Mr. Sheehan holds a Master of Public Policy and a Graduate Certificate in Educational Policy from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Franklin Pierce University. He resides in Ward 3 with his partner and their son.

Gladys Lebron-Martinez was appointed as the Ward 1 representative on the Holyoke School Committee in October 2024. She previously served on the School Committee from 2004-2010, and she also represented Ward 1 on the City Council from 2011-21. She served as a commissioner for the Holyoke Housing Authority from 2021-2024, stepping down from that role to rejoin the Holyoke School Committee in October 2024. 

She has worked for non-profit organizations such as Valley Opportunity Council, Nueva Esperanza, Masshire Holyoke, and Home City Development under the management of Housing Management Resource Inc. Currently, she works as the community engagement specialist at Alianza, a non-profit organization that supports and empowers survivors of domestic violence. She has been an advocate and community organizer for social and restorative justice for decades, focusing on health disparities, employment, internships, education and training opportunities, housing issues, and civic engagement in communities underrepresented to register to vote, along with serving as an ally to the LGBTQIA+ community. 

She was born in Puerto Rico and arrived in Springfield in 1969. She graduated from Springfield High School of Commerce. She is a proud grandmother of nine, two of whom are graduates of HPS while four currently attend district schools. She is also a great grandmother of three young children who will enroll in HPS schools when they are old enough.

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.

Orlando Isaza was appointed as the Ward 4 representative on the Holyoke School Committee in October 2024. He has devoted more than 40 years to advocacy work for health, education, and civil rights for the Latino community in the Boston area and later in Holyoke. He served as a community organizer in Colombia before coming to the United States in 1965. A resident of the Holyoke area since the early 1980s, he was employed by the Crossroads Community Mental Health Center and later served as director of the Springfield North Office of the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare. As a member and president of the board at Enlace de Familias, he has promoted community engagement in the education of its children. 

Mr. Isaza has played many leadership roles and was among the founders of many organizations in the region, including the Holyoke Career Center, the Pre-Natal Care Center, the Holyoke Midwifery Program, the Care Center, the Holyoke Health Center, the Latino Scholarship Association, the Western Massachusetts Community Foundation, the Eric Carle Museum and the Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy in Boston. As a clinician, he collaborated with the Holyoke School Department, providing therapy to students and their families, and served as consultant to the special education program. 

His wife, Milagro, served as translator and interpreter for Holyoke Public Schools in the mid 1980s. His two daughters attended Morgan School, and one of his grandchildren attended the dual language program at E.N. White School.

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.”