Amanda Rivera Flores, MPP, Founder and Principal

Over 19 years of experience in social impact endeavors, with an emphasis on issues of systemic inequities, including education, child welfare, and economic mobility. As the Principal and Founder of Causa Strategies, she has worked side-by-side with social entrepreneurs and thought leaders -in Puerto Rico and beyond- in the development and implementation of systemic change endeavors- through strategic plans, advocacy strategies, policy and research agendas, and resource development/sustainability plans.

She is the former Executive Director of the Youth Development Institute of Puerto Rico, the only entity strictly dedicated to research, policy, and advocacy around children’s issues on the island. During her tenure at YDI, the entity doubled in size and revenue, significantly increased the visibility of the issue of child poverty in Puerto Rico in the media, and successfully advocated for policies aimed at increasing the economic security of families with children and youth. As part of this work, in 2020 she received the Society on Prevention Research’s Public Service award for her role using research to advocating for child poverty in Puerto Rico at the Congressional level.

Prior to YDI, she led all federal policy efforts for Youth Villages, a nonprofit organization that serves 23,000 young people and their families in 13 states. Before Youth Villages, Rivera Flores worked in the Education sector. This included being a middle school teacher through the Teach for America program; being the Director of Development and Community Relations in a school in Harlem, New York; and serving as Deputy Director of the Department of Education of Puerto Rico’s Technical Assistance Project at edCount. Additionally, she is the co-founder of Mentes Puertorriqueñas en Acción, an entity with a mission to empower a network of change agents for Puerto Rico.

She has a bachelor’s degree in Government and Sociology from Harvard College, where she conducted her thesis on the implementation of the Special Communities Program in Puerto Rico. She also received a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, with a specialization in Human Resources, Labor & Education.