Catarina Rivera
Disability Public Speaker & Trainer
What i do
With 12 years of experience in the public sector, Catarina has worked as an educator as well as a nonprofit program manager. Her more recent work has focused on food equity and community engagement. In 2018, she was named to the "40 Under 40 in NYC Food Policy" list by the New York City Food Policy Center. She is the Co-Founder of ExplorEquity, a social impact travel company. She has extensive experience as a facilitator, trainer, public speaker, and panelist.
Catarina was diagnosed with Usher Syndrome at 17 years old and has experienced a combination of vision and hearing loss since then. She is the founder of Blindish Latina, a platform smashing disability stigmas through storytelling, advocacy, and education. She is available to speak on her life journey as a person living with a disability and her career journey as an ambitious Latina woman.
Her signature talk is:
My Disability Journey: Moving from Denial to Acceptance and Engaging in Advocacy
TESTIMONIALS
“Catarina was an invited keynote speaker for International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Her talk titled, “My Disability Journey: Moving from Denial to Acceptance and Engaging in Advocacy”, was very informative. Catarina’s transparency in sharing her story and also her engagement with the audience contributed to a successful event. Her effective communication and well prepared talk led to an interesting and thought-provoking Q&A at the end of the lecture. My only regret is that I wish we had more time with Catarina. We look forward to having Catarina return for future events!"
- Jeanette Rodriguez, CUNY SPH, Office of Accessibility
"We were delighted to have Catarina contribute to our event. As a panelist, she was wonderful, knowledgeable, and engaging. She not only gave thoughtful responses but also facilitated dialogue among her fellow panelists." - Will Simmons, FPOP, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health
"Catarina facilitated several Nutrition and Child Development Associate trainings for our family childcare providers. She is a great facilitator and extremely knowledgeable. Catarina’s expertise is very much appreciated." - K. Rodriguez, Committee for Hispanic Children and Families
Experience
A selection of past public speaking experiences
Public Speaking
Services
Skills and areas of expertise
Trainings and Workshops
Keynote Speaker
Panelist or Panel Moderator
Education
Duke University
Bachelor of Arts
Psychology
Bank Street College of Education
Master of Science in Education
Dual Language/Bilingual Education
CUNY School of Public Health
Master of Public Health
Community Health Education
Certified in Public Health
Work With me
Let's discuss how I can help you.
Catarina Rivera © 2019