District Board of Trustees

Nancy Watkins, of Tampa is a certified public accountant with the accounting firm Robert Watkins & Company. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Florida Institute of Public Accountants and was a member of Beta Alpha Psi and Phi Theta Kappa. Watkins is also a current member of the University of South Florida Board of Trustees and a past member of the Hillsborough Community College District Board of Trustees. She is a graduate of Hillsborough Community College and the University of South Florida.

Gregory Celestan, of Tampa, is the Chief Executive Officer and Owner of Celestar Corporation. He has served as Chairman of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, Director of The Bank of Tampa and Chairman of the Tampa General Hospital Foundation. Celestan received an Honorable Discharge after 20 years of service in the United States Army, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. He earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering and Russian studies from the United States Military Academy at West Point and his master’s degree in international affairs from the University of Washington.

Brig. Gen. Chip Diehl, Ret. is the Managing Director at Diehl & Associates. He received his Bachelor's Degree from the United States Air Force Academy and his Master's Degree from the University of Southern California.

Brian Lametto, of Valrico, is Corporate Vice President of Marketing at New York Life. Previously, he was Corporate Vice President of Strategy Development and Corporate Vice President and Chief Retention Officer with New York Life. Lametto has also held leadership positions with Progress Telecom, GTE and Philip Morris International. He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Alabama.

Mr. Patel is Founder and President of Elevate Inc. Previously, he was Director of Business Development for Chamber.com. Patel is Chair of the Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County, a member of the Tampa Bay Chamber Board of Directors and served on the Super Bowl LV Host Committee. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Florida State University. 

Mr. Matthew Valentin is a HOPE scholar at the HCC Dale Mabry Campus pursuing an education in political science with a dream to work in foreign relations and global security. Matthew has demonstrated exceptional leadership by serving as an HCC Honors Ambassador, as an intern for U.S. Representative Kathy Castor, and fighting food insecurity through AmeriCorps VISTA. He will represent HCC as one of only three non-voting student trustees in the Florida College System.