June 22, 2021, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Grand Rapids Community College trustees selected Salvador Lopez, a GRCC grad who heads a nonprofit aimed at helping children, to fill a board vacancy.
Lopez will replace Kathy Crosby, who resigned last month to spend more time with her family as she faces health challenges.
Board Chairperson David Koetje noted Lopez’s extensive involvement in education and community advocacy, and how attending GRCC helped him as a young man.
“After interviewing Salvador Lopez, the board did not see him as the only candidate, we saw him as the perfect candidate to join this team of trustees,” he said. “He’s a graduate of Grand Rapids Community College, an impressive story of a young high school kid who was going into a direction no one would want to go into, and found this place as a place to go on a much more attractive journey.”
Lopez is leader of KConnect, a Grand Rapids organization focusing on collaborating and ensuring all children have an equitable path to economic prosperity.
He also is serving as the interim president of the Housing Stability Alliance, a local organization working to develop an equitable housing system.
Lopez previously served as associate director for Diversity Recruitment and Inclusion at Grand Valley State University’s Admissions Office, and was assistant director of GVSU’s Office of Multicultural Affairs.
Lopez’s appointment is effective this month. His term runs through the next board election in 2022.