Wilnelia Rivera, founder and CEO of Rivera Consulting, is an urban planner and equity strategist with a
21-year track record of success and results focused on the nexus and connectivity between the built
environment, people, and public and private organizations. The most important economic and social
issues are intersectional and interconnected but require different mindsets, collaboration, and
adaptability to address them. She prototypes values-driven ideas and solutions while fostering buy-in
and trust for leaders and multidisciplinary teams to advance their mission and outcomes with their
staff and communities.
Prior to establishing Rivera Consulting in 2015, Wilnelia served as a history- making community
organizer, advocate, and political strategist across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. For two
years, she spearheaded the statewide public policy coalition that successfully reformed Criminal
Offender Record Information (CORI) laws in 2010. She, along with AdHoc, shaped bus rapid transit
(BRT) advocacy in the region, and as the BRT project manager for Barr Foundation, she worked with
the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), BTD, and MBTA to establish the
regional playbook to advance BRT pilots like all-fare boarding and bus- shelters. She also led the
establishment of the first Boston Public Schools (BPS) early college high school at Madison Park
Vocational High School. This local ecosystem and policy background provides her with deep insight
on how to steward relationships while balancing project goals and deliverables.
Wilnelia leads all business development and strategy for Rivera Consulting, where she has worked on
multiple planning and engagement projects that demonstrate a thorough understanding of federal,
state, and municipal standards and guidelines for pedestrian, transit, and bicycle design. As chief
strategist for then City Councilor Ayanna Pressley for Congress, Wilnelia researched and developed a
federal and state multimodal transit equity public policy plan to identify supporters and champions
for shared mobility advocacy. From developing a transit equity and mobility framework for the Boston
Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) Fenway-Kenomore Action Plan to recently being awarded the
role of principal-in-charge of Boston’s Streets Cabinet Vision and Action Plan, her expertise in design
thinking, urban planning, and engagement makes her a vital member of any multidisciplinary team.
Over the last two years, her firm has partnered with various stakeholders to advance and lead
multimodal policy research on bus camera enforcement and equitable transit-oriented development.
Most recently, she led and delivered on an equity and environmental justice assessment for the City of
Easthampton, where she worked closely with the Mayor’s Office and city department heads to
establish shared meaning for equity and environmental justice as well as a citywide social delivery
model and plan for place-based community engagement and investments. Her firm’s design thinking
work on BPDA’s Article 80 Modernization in community engagement also demonstrates her capacity
to balance projects with local and regulatory guidelines for development and planning with
innovations in engagement that increase community participation and agency process improvement
and advances complex technical and equity goals.