PRESS RELEASES

Aviva Welcomes New
 President and Chief Executive Officer, Amber Rivas

Los Angeles, CA – Aviva has announced that Amber Rivas has been selected as its new President and CEO, effective January 3, 2023. Rivas’ placement follows the recent retirement of Regina Bette who served as the President and CEO for 11 years. Founded in 1915, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit provides support to at-risk children and families through its main programs of Crisis Intervention, Mental Health Services, Foster Care and Adoption, and Supportive Housing for Women and Children. Aviva serves over 2,400 clients and 8,900 family members in Los Angeles each year.

Rivas most recently served as COO of St. Anne’s Family Services, a role she held for six of her 17 years at the organization. While there, Rivas led a number significant of achievements, including opening a new permanent supportive housing complex, transitioning their group home to a Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program, and expansion of Early Head Start services into the city of Lynwood –– all while managing the daily operations of the organization. At Aviva, Rivas will continue to serve children, youth, and families in Los Angeles County as its leader.

“I am incredibly honored to be named the new President and CEO of Aviva,” said Rivas. “This organization has a strong history of service and a track record of successfully meeting the ever-changing needs of the Los Angeles community. I am both humbled and excited to serve as Aviva’s next leader, to work closely with their exceptional leadership staff, and to have the opportunity to influence and implement decisions that strengthen our community and lead to positive outcomes for the disenfranchised and vulnerable, both within Aviva and at the county and state level.”

Jonathan Werner, Board Chair of Aviva, said, “We are very excited to welcome Amber Rivas as the next leader of Aviva. Amber will carry on Aviva’s legacy of transformative programming to improve the lives of youth and families in our community. Her leadership experience, skills, and passion for serving youth and families in the Los Angeles community makes her the leader we’ve been looking for.”

The appointment of Rivas comes after an extensive search and recruitment process led by Werner and the search committee, in conjunction with Envision Consulting—a consulting firm with offices in Los Angeles, Denver, and New York, specializing in nonprofit executive search, organizational strategy, merger exploration and executive leadership transitions. Envision’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is integrated into its practices, including inclusive surveys and stakeholder interviews, focus groups, structured hiring processes, a focus on anti-biased decision making and more. In 2021, Envision was named by the Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy as a Top 10 Search Firm that Works for Women of Color. In 2022, Envision was named a Top 60 Executive search Firms Serving the Nonprofit Sector by Hunt Scanlon. www.envisionnonprofit.com.