District 96 Board of Education Selects New Member
A nearly decade-long district resident and school volunteer was sworn in Tuesday night as the newest member of the Kildeer Countryside School District 96 Board of Education. 
Board president Marc Tepper swore in José E. Rivera Jr., a District parent, to fill the seat most recently held by James Strezewski. Mr. Strezewski resigned from the Board in June.
Mr. Rivera was born in New York and grew up in Puerto Rico and returned stateside for college. He earned a B.A. in economics from Boston College and a J.D. from Harvard University. He practiced law, full-time, from 1990 to 2022.
He and his family moved into the District in 2015.
Since 2021, Mr. Rivera has served as a member of District 96’s Guiding Coalition of Interculturalism (GCI). He has presented to District 96’s Bilingual Parent Advisory Council and to Woodlawn’s bilingual students and volunteered as a PTA Track and Field concession gopher. He also serves as a mentor in Stevenson High School’s S2C program, which helps students who are first-generation and/or facing financial hardship graduate from college, and helps in other programs, such as the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County’s (SWALCO) shoe drive.
“My professional background has provided me with the board and leadership experiences that would help me be a high-functioning board member for KCSD,” Rivera shared in his Letter of Interest.
Mr. Rivera is a biopharmaceutical executive leader with more than 25 years of experience in legal, intellectual property, operational, regulatory and governance matters for small and large cap publicly held companies, according to his resume. One of his accomplishments is as a founding executive of a private biotech start-up with four employees that now employs more than 500 people and has a multi-billion dollar market cap. He is a member of the board of directors of the North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic, which provides pro bono legal services on domestic violence, housing and immigration issues, and serves on its Finance & Budget Committee and Student Board Committee.
He is married and the father of five children, one of whom is a current district student and another who is presently attending Stevenson High School.
“The Board of Education is very lucky to have found someone with the passion for education and interested in serving the residents of the District,” Mr. Tepper said. “Mr. Rivera was the top choice of the eight candidates who applied for the position. He brings a wealth of financial knowledge and a keen approach to looking at the District from a different lens. We are thrilled he decided to apply, and we welcome the opportunity to work with José on the District’s Mission, Vision and Values.”