www.negociosnow.com
42 March 2023
WORDS OF WISDOM:
"E
njoy what your travels will
offer, savor each and every
moment. Meet people from near
and far, make friends who will
make you content."
Sandra Aguirre (Mentor & Friend of Carlos Rivas)
Age: 33
Title: Director of Public Affairs
Organization: The Civilian Office
of Police Accountability
Carlos Rivas, born and raised
in Chicago's Humboldt Park
neighborhood, is currently the
director of public affairs with
the Civilian Office of Police Ac-
countability, Chicago's police
oversight agency.
In his job, Rivas works to
build connections in communi-
ties across Chicago and to build
trust through accountability. In
2022 Rivas hosted nearly 100
engagement events and forged
new partnerships with commu-
nity-based organizations to fur-
ther COPA's community engage-
ment. Since August 2022, Rivas
has served on a special mayoral
detail to support recent migrant
arrivals from the southern bor-
der. This included translating,
greeting buses at union station,
volunteering at a multi-agency
resource center, opening tem-
porary shelters, and providing
assistance to new arrivals.
Previously, Rivas served as
the alumni supports and ex-
ternal affairs manager at UIC
College Prep. He joined the staff
at UICCP in 2014 as a Spanish
instructor and later became
an alumni counselor, suppor-
ting many of the same stu-
dents he had taught. Rivas is a
licensed teacher. He obtained
a bachelor's degree in gover-
nment and Spanish from Cla-
remont McKenna College and
holds two master's degrees, one
in teaching from Dominican
University and another in hig-
her education administration
from Northeastern Illinois Uni-
versity.
As an educator he is most
passionate about creating op-
portunities for students to have
exposure to the outside world.
In his eight years at UIC College
Prep this meant many different
things. He worked hard to pro-
vide extracurricular activities
such as Code Nation, which
provided sophomores through
seniors with coding education
and internships. He also worked
with his assistant principal and
founded the Noble Network's
first student mariachi band,
spending countless hours sear-
ching for instructors, resources,
and writing grants for materials.
Carlos Rivas
Empowering
the next
generation
