Dr. Manuel J. Rivera, Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Manuel J. Rivera, Chief Executive Officer
Manny Rivera is a nationally acclaimed educator and innovator who is passionate about having a sustained impact on children’s education that is not limited to the hours of the school day. Manny believes that schools must be part of a community network that supports children and families around the clock.
Before joining Global Partnership Schools, Manny served as the deputy secretary for education for New York State where he was the senior education policy advisor. In that capacity, he was widely recognized for working tirelessly to demand greater education accountability and provide meaningful reform. Manny oversaw the largest contribution of state aid to education that had occurred in the history of New York. He is also credited for his leadership and singular devotion to the development of education accountability legislation, which included a groundbreaking requirement that school districts with low performing schools must take specific steps and detail their investments in proven practices and programs to address deficits. Manny is also widely praised for providing oversight to the commission on higher education in New York, which developed recommendations to build a system of higher education that would be among the best in the country. His tenure had a lasting impact in shaping policy to reform education and in championing a child-focused agenda throughout the State.
Manny’s personal experiences as the youngest of four children in a family that emigrated from Puerto Rico shaped his commitment to a career in public service, which began in 1975 when he became a teacher with the Rochester City Schools. Later, Manny served as both a school and district administrator in Rochester. His devotion to children and educational opportunity and excellence was quickly recognized. He was named Administrator of the Year in 1988 and was named Rochester city superintendent of schools in 1991, a position he held until entering the private sector in 1994. During his tenure, Manny initiated and oversaw a number of highly innovative programs focused on raising achievement standards to a degree that his schools could compete with the best in the nation. He effectively grew partnerships with his district and community, as well as business and government leaders to improve instruction and achievement and build a local social infrastructure to support the learning process. He was honored for his leadership in bilingual education by the New York State Association of Bilingual Education in 1992.
In 1994, Manny joined Edison Schools, Inc., the country’s leading private manager of public schools. He served on Edison’s management team, supervising all Edison-partnership principals, overseeing school finances and budgets, and designing and implementing the company’s professional and leadership development team. In 1998, Manny was named executive vice president for development.
In 2002, Manny was called on, again, to lead Rochester City Schools and he accepted the position of interim superintendent for school year 2002-03. After a national search, the Rochester Board of Education named him permanent superintendent of schools, a position he held until 2007. Under his leadership, schools made significant improvements in student achievement and the number of students passing statewide exams. In 2005, Manny was named “New York State Superintendent of the Year” by the New York State Council of School Superintendents. In 2006, Rivera was named National Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators.
Rivera received both his doctorate in education in Administration, Planning & Social Policy and his master’s degree in education from Harvard University. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Studies from Brandeis University.
