Uncrowned Community Builders

Hi my name Maria Rivera, I was born in Villalba, Puerto Rico, and I spent my childhood in Queens, New York. I traveled back to Puerto Rico when I was sixteen years old to finish high school, post high school I joined the military and got married. I came to Buffalo in 1986 and I have been here for 26 years, I am a mother of 3 beautiful children and 4 grandkids.

In order to raise my children, I put aside my personal dreams & goals to complete my education. Now that my children are grown up, I went back to school. In 2010, I finished my associate's degree in Human Resources Management. In December 2012, I will receive a Bachelor in Business Administration. I will begin pursuing a Master degree in Organization Leadership in January 2013.

I have a lot of pride in my Hispanic Heritage, I volunteer to assist with causes to help our community. I currently volunteer in Hispanic United in Domestic Violence Prevention program with Maria Garzon. I also co-host Hispanic Voices on channel 4, WIVB (To view the show on YouTube, search under Hispanic Voices by Maria Rivera). I am also taking a training to be certify as a producer and I am working very hard in having my own show where I could Educate, Motivate, and Inform the community of what is going on in this world the show will be in the public access by January or February 2013. You could also see my articles of events for the community in the Hispanic Newspaper called Panorama or the Ultima Hora. I have the pleasure to meet Major Brown at the event of National Night out and talk to him about the Hispanic Community. I have always dreamed of writing a book where I could motivate Hispanic Woman to pursue their dreams & Goals. My dream may come true; I am meeting with a writer to begin the process of writing the book for Hispanic Woman.

I currently work at Roswell Park Cancer Institute as a Program Assistant in the Office of Diversity & Inclusion. I am very happy; RPCI has helped me so much in my career. I will be hosting events and programs for Hispanic employees and the Hispanic Community of Western New York. I want to thank RPCI for allowing me to start an Employee Network and Resource Group (ENRG) and for purchasing a brick for the Hispanic Veteran Memorial in my name. RPCI has supported me with hosting the First Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration on September 17, 2012.