Jesus Rivas

About Jesus Rivas

Creating value from data is my passion and research my working instrument! I am a seasoned researcher who excels at telling stories with data to bring people together, foster collaboration, and accelerate progress within organizations. I have been supporting research and data analytics functions for over 12 years for a variety of organizations and industries, including government, education, manufacturing, consulting, and marketing. If data and research are involved, chances are that I have done it: surveys, interviews, qualitative, quantitative, data processing, data analysis. You name it, I\'ve done it!In my career, I have overcome various challenges, but there is one that I must highlight, my cultural adaptation process after migrating from Mexico in 2017. Since that year, I have allocated boundless energy to integrate to this country by blending two cultures, mastering a second language, rebuilding my professional network, and of course, nurturing new social relationships. It has been truly an adventure and even though there were costs associated with this transition, like having to step down from a director-level position in Mexico to start from an entry-level one in the U.S, I have grown in so many ways during this process, making it hard not to be appreciative and amazed by this journey during the last five years.If we talk about strengths, there are two that I can underscore. The first one, I am a natural leader; I enjoy helping groups of people to define and rally around goals. I have led many teams over the years and in this process, I have always been great at listening to needs, building plans, equitably assigning responsibilities, and delivering results. All this while supporting collaborators to make the most of their talents and addressing their areas of opportunity. A second strength, storytelling: telling stories with data has been a critical component of my career trajectory and data visualizations are a key element of this work. A good visualization can be more powerful than a 100-pages report. I have crafted and delivered data stories for Chief Executive Officers, Presidents, Vice-presidents, community members and many more. I currently work at SDCCE as the Associate Dean of Research, Planning, and Innovation where I manage a team of researchers who constantly redraw the limits of what a small research office can do. I consider myself lucky to have assembled a unique team of people that are able to deliver top-quality work while keeping the fun and creativity flowing in all directions.

Experience

1. Associate Dean of Research, Planning, and Innovation

   San Diego Community College District

   Jun 2023 — Present · San Diego, CA, US

Education

• Universidad Autónoma de Baja California

  Bachelor of Science - BS, Economía

• Universidad Cuauhtémoc

  Master of Science - MS, Data science