Bio

Board Member, NALHE
Sr. Vice President of External Engagement
Sonrava Health

Edwin Rivera is the Sr. Vice President of External Engagement for Sonrava Health (parent company of Western Dental and Orthodontics, Brident Dental and Orthodontics, Perfect Teeth, and other brands in 20 states).  He is responsible for building partnerships and alliances across the health field for the company as well as leading External Engagement for the enterprise.  Edwin represents the company in several committees and partnerships across the health and oral health field.

Prior to his current position Mr. Rivera was Vice President of Marketing and Community Engagement for Heritage Provider Network. In this capacity Edwin was responsible for the Cal MediConnect Outreach program operations as well as all Latino Community Engagement Outreach Events.

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 outreach programs related to Medical and Covered California.

During two decades Mr. Rivera has been involved in the health care industry in California including work at all different areas of health care administration (Government, Insurance, Direct Delivery, Hospital and Advocacy work). During many years 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 built relationships and partnerships with Latino advocacy organizations at the State, County and local levels as well as government official and funding organizations.

He has many 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 with a concentration in Human Resources Management.  He has many years of experience in management and organizational development as well as consulting.  During his career he has served as spoke person for the 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. He was a Board Member and Chair for The Wall of Las Memorias, an organization which he still supports and counsels. He also chaired the Board of Directors for Latino Health Access, in Orange County California.  He continues to volunteer his time in local community groups, especially Latino focused organizations. He is also a graduate of the MALDEF’s Leadership Development Program.