Who We Are

Melanie Rivera is the CEO and Founder of Breaker28, and the creator of the H.E.A.R.T. model that guides our work. She brings significant experience advising organizational leaders on how to lead in healthy, equitable, anti-racist, real and trust-centered ways, leading to better business outcomes, the retention of key talent, and a more equitable and inclusive organizational culture.

Before founding Breaker28, Melanie has served in various HR and executive leadership roles in large and small organizations including DonorsChoose.org, Universal Service Administrative Company, Learning Heroes, and Excel Academy - DC. Most recently, she also served as a Partner in the Educational Equity practice of the Management Center, coaching and training hundreds of executive teams, individuals executives and managers on equitable management practices. In her role as CEO at Breaker28, she has developed and led training and served as principal Executive Coach to 40 organizations ranging from large nonprofits and school networks to communications and commercial real estate firms. In all of these environments, Melanie’s practical and action-oriented training and advice has resonated as valuable for leaders and managers seeking to get exceptional results from identity and workstyle-diverse teams.

Melanie has her MS in Organization Development from American University, a graduate certificate in Organizational Leadership and Change Management from Georgetown University SCS and is certified in several DEI frameworks and approaches through the Winters Group, Coach Diversity Institute, and International Conflict Styles Inventory (ICS).