At our shop, one thing has become more clear than ever: with our civic infrastructure in flames across the country, now is the moment for us to invest in a deeper democracy—a public commons and society co-created and co-designed by the leadership of women, Black people, indigenous people, and all people of color.

Black people are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Sick and tired of police brutality, racism, and broken promises. Trump, his base, and many moderates say that our country is in chaos. But the raw, unapologetic truth is that Black people are in pain and have been long before COVID19.

Planning is a critical component of creating social or political change - and it’s a challenge for many organizations to make the time. In the current public health and political crisis, responding to tasks and putting out day-to-day fires is more urgent. But this is the time when planning can make or break an organization.

Super Tuesday for Democrats in 2020 was a stark reminder that the high-level institutional levers of the Democratic party are still alive and well. With little-to-no organizing presence across a diverse collection of states, Joe Biden produced a significant performance that has reshaped the nomination process.

Rivera Consulting Inc., was born and established to be home for the transition team. The transition team is those of us that understand that we are simultaneously living in both today’s world as we know it, and one that is emerging. Central to this team is the steadfast commitment that this transition must leverage our diversity and be centered on creating just, sustainable communities.

Rivera Consulting Inc. welcomes Darshan Khalsa as our Vice-President, who comes with decades of national movement-building experience and is deeply passionate about strengthening sustainability and resources for the folks who work in social justice movements, especially racial and gender justice.

Our firm is founded on the concept of “deep democracy”: an urban planning, political and social change tool kit that can support the paradigm shift necessary for a just transition. Critically, this guiding tenant—though applicable to electoral politics— also speaks more broadly to the planning and action steps needed at all levels of organizing, engagement, and activism to enact real shifts in the power structures that define America’s social contract.

At Rivera Consulting Inc. we work at the intersection of people, planning, and politics. We build cross-sector infrastructure that centralizes the leadership of women of color. Our mission is driven by founder Wilnelia Rivera’s philosophy that when we work in partnership to address inequity, whether with our organizations, candidates, or within our urban planning projects, the approach must break the traditional frameworks of change.