Janessa Rivera was born and raised in Mays Landing, NJ. She obtained a Bachelors in Sociology from William Paterson University, a Masters in Professional Counseling from Grand Canyon University, and is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership with concentration in Organizational Development. Ms. Rivera has 19 years of professional experience in social services, with 11 years focused on Senior Leadership. She currently serves as the Deputy Director for Concilio, a multi-service nonprofit agency in Philadelphia, in which she also co-leads the Leadership Skills Building training series to provide professional coaching and mentoring to middle management staff.
Ms. Rivera has previously served in roles such as the Director of Coaching and Mentoring for the Association of Latinos Professionals for America (ALPFA)-Philadelphia Chapter, Chief Program Officer of a nonprofit in Burlington County NJ, Program and Contract Specialist with the State of NJ-Department of Community Affairs, to name a few.
Ms. Rivera is also a self-published author and national speaker. She has been provided the opportunity to speak nationally at a variety of conferences as a panelist member as well as a workshop facilitator, conducted seminars and workshops regionally at both private and public schools including elementary, middle school, high school, and colleges/universities advocating and educating both the community and professional staff on various topics surrounding unhealthy/healthy relationships between peers, intimate partner, family etc. Ms. Rivera has a passion both professionally and personally with serving the community by volunteering and coordinating partnerships with other local community base organizations to fill the gaps of need the community may have. Ms. Rivera’s professional goal is to be able to provide organizational leadership and leadership coaching as well as strategic/logistics planning internationally to senior and executive teams as well as provide professional mentorship to young professionals.