Executive Director
Valley Onward
Sol Rivas is the Founder and Executive Director of Valley Onward, a Central Valley nonprofit dedicated to strengthening communities, developing resident leadership, and creating opportunities for families whose voices are often underrepresented. She oversees strategic direction, programs, partnerships, fundraising, and long-term sustainability while building collaborations across nonprofit, education, healthcare, government, and community sectors.
In addition to her nonprofit leadership, Sol brings extensive experience in civic engagement, community organizing, and political campaigns. As a political consultant, she has worked on state and local campaigns throughout the Central Valley, helping develop campaign strategy, build grassroots organizing efforts, engage voters, and support efforts to increase diverse representation in public leadership.
Prior to founding Valley Onward, Sol served as Hub Manager for Building Healthy Communities Merced and as Assistant Director for the Merced County Office of Education Head Start Program, where she helped oversee administrative operations and worked directly with children and families.
As a mother, lifelong Merced County resident, and community advocate, Sol understands the power of residents coming together to create change. Her work is rooted in a simple belief: strong communities are built when residents have access to opportunities, see themselves represented in leadership, and have a seat at the table.
Related Web Forums
Hear public health and community leaders, including Megan Black of Merced County Department of Public Health and Sol Rivas of Valley Onward, share how their partnership began, what they’ve learned, and how trust and a shared vision help collaboration last beyond funding cycles.
Watch Recording
In this Web Forum, hear from Brooke Briggance, Director of Cypress Resilience Project, and learn how to identify moral distress and to make space for the complicated feelings surrounding wounds to our values.
Join the Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health to explore how systems-level approaches and adaptive leadership can improve support for youth in high-risk environments. Learn how policy, structural, and environmental factors influence behavioral health and how cross-sector collaboration advances primary prevention.
Watch Recording
Join the Leadership Academy for the Public's Health for a Web Forum on the CDC's Lead-Free Communities Toolkit. Learn how it supports community-based lead prevention, see a real-world example in action, and gain practical insights on program planning, implementation, and sustainability.
Watch Recording
In this conversation with Dr. Judy Monroe, who worked with Dr. William Foege at the CDC, we will explore the principles that guided his public health work and reflect on what they mean for public health today in an environment that is testing our ability to do our work.
Watch Recording
In this Web Forum, our partners at Cypress Resilience Project will explore how chronic stress affects helping professionals and share practical tools for preventing compassion fatigue, burnout, and vicarious trauma while supporting long-term wellbeing.
Watch Recording
Join the National Overdose Prevention Network for a conversation on building meaningful and sustainable connections with communities that are often overlooked or hard to reach. Speakers will share successful outreach approaches with rural, Black, faith-based, and Tribal communities, followed by a moderated discussion and audience Q&A.
Watch Recording
This final webinar in our AI in Public Health series explores how AI can support human thinking, learning, and ethical decision-making in public health. Participants will gain practical strategies for using AI effectively through a brief overview of key tools and a hands-on workshop.
Watch Recording
Learn from leaders in rural health about the strategies required to move from high-level goals to measurable results. Panelists will discuss their local implementation work, with an emphasis on how adaptive leadership and strategic partnerships have supported their efforts in rural settings.
Watch Recording
Join the Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health to hear from experts who’ve built lead-safe initiatives into lasting community programs—and walk away with strategies to make your work thrive long-term.
Watch Recording