Rivera is the founder of The Good Life Organization, which 7 Mindsets recently acquired
(Roswell, GA) April 18, 2017 — 7 Mindsets, the national leader in mindsets-based social and emotional learning, is excited to announce its new Chief Empowerment Officer, Roberto Rivera, along with the acquisition of The Good Life Organization (TGLO). Throughout 2017, The Good Life Organization’s curriculum, Fulfill the Dream, will be integrated into the 7 Mindsets Academy Portal. Both curricula can be used in schools, after-school programs, faith-based settings, and other community programs.
Roberto Rivera is a pre-doctoral Fellow with the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Research Group at the University of Illinois at Chicago, specializing in the relationship of youth voice to social and emotional learning. As a Research Collaborator for CASEL, he studies the intersection of SEL, culturally relevant pedagogy, and youth voice.
As a teen, Roberto was labeled an “at-risk” and “disadvantaged” student with learning disabilities. As an adult, he overcame these labels and completed his college degree at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he created his own major entitled “Social Change, Youth Culture and the Arts.” Today, he holds a master’s degree in Youth Development with a focus on Social Justice, Urban Education, and Hip-hop from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has received awards from former President Bill Clinton and Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin.
“I’m delighted to join the 7 Mindsets team,” said Rivera. “My role will involve connecting research and practice in a way that expands the empirical base of our approach, while evolving a model that transforms schools and communities in the process.”
The Good Life Organization publishes multimedia educational tools and trains educators, youth workers, and parents in connecting positive youth development to community development. TGLO is best known for its Fulfill the Dream curriculum and its whole-community outcomes in Chicago and Milwaukee schools. Those outcomes include GPAs going up by a full point cumulatively in one quarter, attendance increasing from 55% to 96% in one month, and alternative schools reaching 100% graduation rates. This work has extended beyond school walls in urban communities, sparking gang peace treaties and inspiring community events that helped people save their homes.
“The mission of our new leadership team is to create an environment of hope in all schools across the nation,” said Lupita Knittel, the President of 7 Mindsets. “We’ve joined forces with The Good Life Organization as a major step towards that vision.”
For more information on Roberto Rivera, see his closing keynote from SXSWedu here.
About 7 Mindsets
Combining elements of relationship-based teaching and social-emotional learning, 7 Mindsets provides a framework that distills extensive research on the nature of happiness and success into tools, lessons, and training that provide a new language and operating system for schools and classrooms. With multiple courses of flexible, age-appropriate online curriculum for elementary, middle, and high school, 7 Mindsets Academy is an easy-to-implement, transformational program that has been established in 23 U.S. states. For more information, please visit 7mindsets.com.
About The Good Life Organization
The Good Life Organization is an international organization that builds capacity in local leaders to support the positive development of youth for the purposes of enhancing democratic participation and academic achievement. This vision is fulfilled by building capacity in local leaders through speaking events, trainings, and the use of practical curriculum and tools that enable dialogue, critical reflection, and creative action.