Carlos Rivas Jr, Director of Public Affairs

Carlos Rivas, born and raised in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood, is currently the Director of Public Affairs with The Civilian Office of Police Accountability. Carlos joined COPA in June 2022 after serving eight years at Noble Schools. A lifelong educator, Carlos works to build connections in communities across Chicago to build trust and expand COPA’s reach in underserved communities.

 Previously, Carlos served as the Alumni Supports & External Affairs Manager at UIC College Prep, a Noble School. He joined the staff at Noble in 2014 as a Spanish instructor. Later, he joined the College Team as an Alumni Counselor supporting many of the same students he taught. During his time as Alumni Counselor the 6 year college graduation rate for alumni broke 50% for the first time in network history. Additionally, year after year Carlos’s caseload had highest in network college retention leading to many choice-filled lives for students of color and low-income students. As the External Affairs manager, he was responsible for building parent and family engagement. Carlos was successful in building parent programming at the school to better support families and became an ally sought out by families in tough situations. Carlos is a licensed teacher, obtained his Bachelor’s in Government and Spanish from Claremont McKenna College and holds a Master’s in teaching from Dominican University and a Master’s in Education Leadership: Higher Education Administration from Northeastern Illinois University.