Todd Aldrich is a retired business executive and attorney whose career has included leadership positions in financial services, healthcare, medical technology, and consulting. He held executive positions with First Bank System, Union Labor Life Insurance Company, and Medtronic, and served on the boards of two family-owned manufacturing businesses. He retired in 2017.
Todd grew up in the Milwaukee, WI area and attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he received his BA. He earned an MBA from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and later a JD from William Mitchell College of Law, passing the bar examination at age 60.
Todd has a long history of nonprofit board service. In Minneapolis, he chaired the board of Project for Pride in Living, a nonprofit affordable housing developer, and served on the board of a YMCA. Since moving to the Santa Barbara area with his wife, Allyson, in 2016, he has served on the boards of the Santa Barbara Symphony and Santa Barbara Choral Society, including as President and Board Chair of the latter. He is currently President-elect of the Rotary Club of Montecito and serves on the board of the California Seniors Golf Association.
Todd’s interest in community colleges has personal roots. His father, a village attorney in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, helped establish the community’s industrial park in the 1950s and 1960s, laying the groundwork for local economic development. In the early 1970s, the Waukesha County Vocational-Technical Institute established a campus in Pewaukee, further expanding educational and career opportunities in the area. His father later taught business law at Milwaukee Area Technical College. These experiences helped shape Todd’s appreciation for the important role community colleges play in preparing people for meaningful careers, expanding opportunity, and strengthening local economies.
Todd and Allyson live in Montecito and own Fox Canyon Farm, an equestrian boarding and training facility in Somis, California.
