Board of Directors

Edwin Rivera serves as Vice President of Community Engagement and Strategic Alliances for Western Dental and Orthodontics.  In his role, he is responsible to develop community and business partnerships for the company as well as represent the company in all the states that they operate (California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and Alabama).   He is also responsible for Latino Outreach in all communities as well as representing the company in Latino Media.  

Previous to this role Edwin was Vice President of Community Engagement and Cal MediConnect for Heritage Provider Network. In this capacity, Edwin was responsible for the Duals Outreach program operations as well as all Latino Community Engagement Outreach Events.  He was also responsible for the development of a marketing initiative for the Latino Community for Heritage Provider Network.

Prior to joining Heritage, Mr. Rivera worked as State Director of Community Engagement for Molina Healthcare, where he directed the operations for community outreach and engagement for Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, Imperial, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties.  In this capacity, he directed a team of Outreach Advocates that implemented the company’s outreach programs related to Medical and Covered California.

During the past two decades, Mr. Rivera has been involved in the healthcare industry in California including working in all different areas of healthcare administration (Government, Insurance, Direct Delivery, Hospital, and Advocacy work).  Mr. Rivera served as the Senior Manager of Latino Program Development for Health Net of California.  In this capacity, Edwin was responsible for leading the research, development, and implementation of culturally sensitive products and programs that meet the needs of the Latino market segment.  The Cross Border products were some of the products that he managed for Health Net of California.  He was responsible for the development of cross-border insurance programs for the company.

Prior to joining Health Net, Edwin served as Director of Policy and Operations for the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, a health advocacy organization based in Sacramento California.  In this role, he was responsible for overseeing the operations of the organization as well as identifying policy issues that affected Latino health issues in the State of California, health insurance coverage being one of the main areas. During his tenure as Director, Edwin developed relationships and partnerships with Latino advocacy organizations at the State, County, and local levels as well as government officials and funding organizations.  He has over fifteen years of health management experience in State Health Programs from working in County Government for the Counties of Fresno and Napa managing government programs including Medi-Cal (Medicaid) and Healthy Families (SCHIP), with a focus on providing culturally sensitive services.

Edwin’s education is in management and organizational development and he also has a Master’s Degree in business administration. During his career, he has served as a spokesperson for organizations in the Spanish media. He was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where he completed some of his undergraduate work. He is fluent in both English and Spanish.

He continues to be involved in regional task forces and organizations that focus on Latino Health, such as Latino Health Access, The National Association for Latino Healthcare Executives, and The Wall Las Memorias where he was a Board Member and past Chair.  He continues to volunteer his time in local community groups, especially Latino-focused organizations. He is a graduate of MALDEF’s Leadership Development Program.