Violeta Mercedes Rivera is currently a Mental Health Registered Intern at T.A.L., where she provides mental health support and counseling services. She also serves as the Equity and Institutional Transformation Manager at The Bronx Defenders, leading initiatives to address inequity and identity-based harm in the workplace. Prior to her current roles, she worked as a Social Worker at The Bronx Defenders, providing holistic legal defense and crisis intervention services to individuals in immigration court. Violeta holds a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology from the State University of New York at Cortland. Fluent in Spanish, she is passionate about advancing social justice and equity in her professional and community work.