Tristan Toleno, he/him

OPERATIONS, CURRICULUM DESIGNER, PRODUCT
DEVELOPMENT, AND CLIENT STEWARD

"A spacious and undefended heart finds room for everything you are, and carves space for everybody else."

— Gregory Boyle

GRTL has been fortunate to have someone like Tristan as an essential part of our teaming ensemble. From COO & CFO gifts and talents and his stewardship of our company, to strategic visioning and implementation, executive coaching and actively participating as a human-centered designer in the co-creation of our learning journeys, Tristan has been shining brightly in a multifaceted way.

From restaurant management to legislative leadership, Global Round Table Leadership’s Shared Leadership Framework™ has always resonated with Tristan’s management style. 

Tristan comes from over 25 years of experience as an Operating Chef & Partner in the restaurant industry. While the ingredients were extraordinary and the craftsmanship top-notch, he found the culture broken, toxic, and dehumanizing. Little did he know his whole career in food service was a fertile learning ground for sharing leadership—even if it was finding out what not to do.

Along the way in his food service career, Tristan began to be active in the local food movement. His work on boards, as a volunteer and as a parent inspired him to pursue a Sustainable MBA from Marlboro College, where he met many of the GRTL team. Over time, Marlboro’s graduate school became a part of his work life too and Tristan spent time in shared leadership with Travis and Lori in the MBA Program and at the strategic leadership level as a part of the graduate school leadership. His own personal commitment to life-long learning fed the passion he brought to the design and strategy of Marlboro’s adult professional education.

Tristan has also served in the Vermont Legislature for more than a decade and is currently on the Appropriations Committee. He describes a caucus as a shared leadership vehicle of political bodies that relies primarily on the quality of relationship, empathy, and understanding of one another. 

As a leader within the committee, Tristan is an eager, active learner who challenges himself to lead with humanity. He believes that there’s always a chance to be a better version of ourselves: to see how our individual choices—being more open, generous, kinder—unlock new possibilities.