LYNN — A longtime city resident and Brown University graduate Vicky Rivera joins a local organization, which expands employment and economic opportunities for young adults, to give back to her community.
Rivera, who is a director of college counseling at the Community Charter School in Cambridge and a vice president of the Lynn Hispanic Scholarship Fund, has recently joined the Board of Directors with Root North Shore, Inc. based in Salem. Root serves young adults with barriers to success in Essex County through food-service training and life-skills development.
Since 2017, when it launched, Root has built a Culinary Job Training Program, award-winning youth-employment social enterprises (Root Café, Catering by Root, and the HarborPoint event space), and a new initiative to help address area food insecurity through youth-driven Community Catering. To date, Root has graduated 131 youth, created 25 youth jobs through its enterprises, generated more than $500,000 in earned income, and prepared more than 50,000 meals for those in need.
“Vicky is a long-time community and educational leader dedicated to expanding opportunities for young people. As we look to the next five years and evolve from a start-up organization, Vicky’s professional and lived experience will help strengthen and sustain Root’s community impact,” said Scott Knox, executive director of Root.
For more than 27 years, Rivera has been helping students identify, research, and apply to colleges that are good matches while also ensuring that families access financially-affordable options. She started her career in college counseling at the admissions committee of her alma mater, Brown University. She then went on to become the founding director of college & career counseling at Boston Green Academy with Boston Public Schools; associate director of college counseling at Ransom Everglades School in Coconut Grove, Fla.; and the founding director of college counseling at Gateway High School, in San Francisco.
Rivera currently lives in Lynn with her husband and two children.
“Serving on Root’s board gives me the chance to give back to my home community and specifically youth, in a direct manner,” said Rivera. “As a proud Latina and Lynn native, I am excited about the opportunity Root gives young people from my community and the North Shore to expand their knowledge base in the culinary-arts realm. Root is opening up new pathways for our youth as well as serving up great cuisine for families, seniors and schools.”
Root was fortunate to connect with Rivera through the Latino Board Fellowship, a program of Latinos for Education, which cultivates and places Latinos onto governing boards of schools and education nonprofit organizations to elevate the voice of Latino students and influence better educational outcomes for all children.
“Root is a critical partner in helping open the door to career opportunities and prosperity for more youth across the Commonwealth,” said Lorena Lopera, executive director of Latinos for Education, New England. “With the guidance and leadership of their newest board member, Vicky Rivera, I’m excited to see more Latino youth participate in and benefit from the crucial services and programs that Root offers, since these youth represent our future workforce and leaders.”
“This is a great appointment for Root and for Lynn,” said Mayor-elect Jared Nicholson. “The commitment of local leaders and advocates like Vicky are crucial to supporting young people as they transition into adulthood. Root is an increasingly important contributor to the food- and workforce-development ecosystem in Lynn and the North Shore.”
