Specialist Rivera is the first Gulf War and Desert Shield/Desert Storm veteran to serve as the Mayor of Lawrence and is currently the President and CEO of MassDevelopment.
Dan Rivera is a veteran of the U.S. Army, having served during the first Gulf War, Desert Shield/Desert Storm. He is a graduate of the UMass Amherst and Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Management, where he earned his MBA. Dan currently resides in Lawrence with his wife, Paula, and their children, Daniel and Charlotte.
Dan Rivera served as Mayor of the City of Lawrence, Mass for seven years before joining MassDevelopment. During his tenure, he oversaw significant commercial development, record new units of housing, and attracted tens of millions of dollars in economic development planning and projects. Dan’s focus on economic and community development included investments in housing, job creation, downtown redevelopment, transit-oriented development and equity, infrastructure, brownfields redevelopment, placemaking, and quality-of-life improvements. He also established professional, transparent, modern, and streamlined permitting and licensing processes.
Dan was a member of the Baker-Polito Administration’s Reopening Advisory Board and the COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group. In 2017, Governor Baker appointed him to the newly established Latino Advisory Commission tasked with addressing concerns of the Massachusetts Latino community and promoting economic prosperity and well-being.