Dr. Paul Rivera He/Him
Speaker, International Economist, Former Diplomat, Academic, AI Co-Founder & Entrepreneur
Fields of expertise:
Dr. Paul Rivera is an international economist, former diplomat, academic, entrepreneur, and global speaker whose career spans emergency response, university leadership, diplomatic negotiations, international development, economics, and entrepreneurship.
A former Senior Economist and Senior Advisor with USAID and the U.S. Department of State, Dr. Rivera has developed strategies directing more than $1 billion in funding, facilitated high-level diplomatic negotiations, conducted rigorous economic analysis, and advised leaders navigating complex decisions and competing priorities.
As founding faculty at California State University Channel Islands, Dr. Rivera helped build a new university from strategy and conception through implementation and growth. He served as professor and department chair, contributed to the university’s long-term strategic planning, designed accredited undergraduate and MBA programs, and helped shape the systems, programs, and structures supporting the institution’s growth. He has also served as a visiting professor at Harvard and holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Southern California.
His experiences as an EMT, lifeguard, diplomat, international economist, martial artist, professor, and international development leader have given him a unique perspective on how people think, communicate, collaborate, and make decisions across radically different environments and levels of pressure. Having traveled to more than 115 countries, Dr. Rivera brings a deeply global perspective to leadership, strategy, and human connection. Fluent in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese, he draws from experiences across cultures, institutions, and communities to help audiences expand possibility, strengthen alignment, and operate with greater clarity.
Today, as Co-Founder of BeActChange and YourSol, Dr. Rivera brings together economics, strategy, human behavior, global experience, breathwork, and technology to explore how people and organizations can activate the extraordinary resources they already hold. YourSol is a human-centered AI platform designed to help people identify and articulate the value embedded in how they solve problems, with an upcoming capability to connect that value with aligned opportunities.
