Growing up, Enrique Rivera moved often. Born in Salem, his childhood was marked by constant change. From there, he and his older brother were moved to The Dalles, then Mexico, Texas, and Kentucky, and back to Salem again, with numerous shorter stops in between. Rivera describes it as “tumultuous.”
“There was a lot of upheaval," Rivera said, recalling a time when a meth lab exploded twice at one of the apartment complexes they lived in.
Despite the challenges of his early years, Rivera has overcome family difficulties, school suspensions, periods on probation, involvement in youth gang violence, and even incarceration, to reach a place that he simply “could not comprehend as a young person,” he says. “It’s unfathomable.”
Today, he is a husband and father, a program founder, a public speaker, and, most recently, a Public Safety Coordinator for Multnomah County’s Local Public Safety Coordinating Council. In this role, he’s overseeing the planning and launch of the Justice Fellowship, a pilot program designed to empower people involved in the justice system by recognizing and incorporating their lived experiences into efforts to envision a more equitable justice system.
The ultimate goal of the program is to integrate fellows into policy and program discussions and foster a broad network of community experts ready to contribute to decision-making tables. Rivera considers the role to be “serendipitous,” allowing him to draw on his own lived experiences.
As the son of a migrant worker, Rivera’s father also moved often in his youth. Born in Weslaco, Texas, the family faced poverty and many other challenges.
As a result, Rivera’s grandmother, father, and uncle moved to Reynosa, Mexico near the southern tip of Texas, not far from Corpus Christi. “And as soon as they were able to stand and walk and work, they were sent to work in the fields alongside with their godparents in Gervais, where they eventually stayed," Rivera explained.
Rivera’s mother grew up in the Portland metro area and later moved to Salem, where she met Rivera’s father at Chemeketa Community College. They married.
Rivera’s father’s enlistment in the National Guard meant another move, this time to The Dalles, Oregon.
“We moved all over Salem, the Dalles, then to Mexico to live with my father’s family, and then to Texas,” Rivera recounted. Then, Rivera’s mother joined the Army, leading the family to relocate once again — this time to Kentucky.
His parents’ divorce, not long thereafter, brought with it traumatic child custody issues, involvement with child protective services, and encounters with law enforcement. It wasn’t until the fourth grade that Rivera was able to start and complete a school year when he was living with his father in Oregon.
“And when I did start school, I was acting out,” he said. “I got into a lot of trouble as a youth.”
In middle school, Rivera was placed on probation and went in and out of juvenile detention and alternative programs. “I’d go to school, I’d get suspended, I’d get a minor in possession,” he said. “Then it escalated to theft, vandalism, burglary charges and finally assault.
“I was also selling marijuana at the time, and so I made a lot of friends. Many of them were in gangs.”
By the age of 17, Rivera found himself entangled in gang violence. He was sentenced to 70 months and served nearly six years for Measure 11 offenses.
Before his trial, Rivera spent time in the Marion County jail, where he had an encounter that left a lasting impression.
“I met someone who has spent his entire life in and out of jail and prison,” he said. “At nearly 70 years old, he shared that if given the chance to go back, he would have done something different. He had struggled with addiction and being a youth in that system and an adult in the same system — that was his entire life.
“I believe he said he was serving life ‘on the installment plan,’ and that the only thing he had to show for it was regret."
The conversation motivated Rivera to take advantage of available programs while he was incarcerated. He first served 30 days at the Oregon Corrections Intake Center, now at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. Then he was transferred to MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn — specifically the Secure Intensive Treatment Program for maximum-security young people.
During his time at MacLaren, he learned to play the guitar and developed his artistic skills. He even won an art contest for his work that earned him statewide recognition from the governor of Oregon.
Rivera also worked to earn his high school diploma. Upon his release at the age 23, he started college, having already earned credits towards an associate’s degree at Chemeketa Community College, his parents’ alma mater.
In 2004, Rivera’s uncle, then a counselor for Multnomah County’s Department of Community Justice, encouraged him to visit the Belmont Library to create a resume. He ended up signing up for a library card, too.
Despite only having his Department of Corrections-issued card as his only form of identification at the time, Rivera was able to sign up for classes at Portland Community College, too. A helpful County librarian also provided support as he crafted a resume, which he printed out 30 copies of and handed them out to businesses in the local area.
It landed him a job at a taqueria on Hawthorne Boulevard.
Rivera’s educational journey continued as he transferred to Portland State University, where he had the opportunity to study abroad in Cuernavaca, Mexico. That’s where he met his wife of nearly 15 years.
By 2009, he had returned to Oregon and was working various jobs, including a position where he answered phones for a law firm. In 2011, he came across an opportunity with the Multnomah County Library, the vital resource where his life post-incarceration had taken off in earnest.
Rivera started his Library career as a page at the Gresham branch, then moved to Central Library, eventually becoming a Library Outreach Specialist. He discovered the many programs the library offered including a reading program at the Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Center — where he helped promote literacy and provided book recommendations to incarcerated youth. His Spanish language skills allowed him to engage in library programs that helped Spanish-speaking clients.
He also began to visit the Columbia River Correctional Institute to present about library resources and information — the very same resources that helped him after his exit from incarceration.
In 2022, Rivera and other library staff were invited to attend the American Library Association Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., where Rivera spoke about his experience with the justice system for the first time on a national stage. The opportunity allowed him to speak alongside other leaders on a national stage about increasing reading and learning resources for people experiencing incarceration.
“It was a great experience and I learned that I could do more by sharing my story,” he said. “Before I had kept it somewhat of a secret, like it was a stigma, but by putting it out there, I realized the power of my story.”
Rivera helped Multnomah County’s Library by taking over the reference by mail program (once run by San Francisco Public Library), which helps fulfill reading and service requests for all of Oregon’s correctional facilities. At the Hollywood branch, he helped organize a legal clinic that partners with Metropolitan Public Defender, the Oregon Law Center and the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office and many others to assist people with legal needs and resolve fines and fees for people with justice involvement.
Recently, he stumbled on the open position for the Justice Fellowship.
“It spoke to me when I saw it — people with lived experience shaping the justice system,” said Rivera. “People who have actually been through the system get to provide that feedback and hopefully help change the systems. I can see the flaws in the system and what was good for me.”
Rivera has already had meetings with public safety leaders like Portland Police Chief Bob Day and Gresham Police Chief Travis Gullberg.
“It shifts your perspective when you have conversations. It’s definitely different to sit across from a person,” he said. “The fellowship provides the opportunity to meet these folks.”
The fellowship is a four-month leadership and civic engagement opportunity for members of the community who are interested in criminal justice policy. A cohort of 10 justice fellows will meet weekly to learn about components of the public safety system, from 911 dispatch to parole, grant writing to activism.
Application and nomination forms for the Justice Fellowship were released on Jan. 16, 2024, with accompanying information sessions between Jan. 16 and Jan. 27. Learn more here.
“As someone who has experienced the justice system firsthand, this work is meaningful to me. I look forward to working collaboratively with future fellows and with members of the justice system. And I encourage people to apply and join us in making a positive impact.”