Maria Elena Rivera is the Associate Vice President of Human Resources for San Jose State University where she is responsible for all aspects of Human Resources and under her leadership the HR team was recently named 2007 Quality Improvement Team of the Year for the California State University system. Additionally, the SJSU HR Department received the 2007 Western Region IPMA-HR Award for Agency Excellence. Prior to this appointment with San Jose State, Maria Elena was the Director of Human Resources for the City of Redwood City. During her ten year tenure with the city, Maria Elena led the departments transformation from a traditional Personnel Department to a value-added business partner. In March 2000, the Redwood City Human Resource Department received an Innovation Award for a best practice in measuring HR organizational effectiveness and in 2003 and 2005 the department received Awards of Excellence in Human Resources. Before arriving to Redwood City, Maria Elena Rivera was the HR Manager for a large manufacturing business and Training and Employee Development Manager for a large public transit district. Maria Elena has worked in the human resource field for the past twenty years. She has facilitated numerous workshops and has presented at several conferences both in the United States and in Mexico. In addition, Maria Elena manages her own HR consulting business where she works with independent schools and community health clinics. Maria Elena combines real-world experience and an effective facilitation style that engages her audience. Her passion for the work of human resources is her success. Maria Elena Rivera received her Masters Degree in Human Resource and Organizational Development from the University of San Francisco and her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Santa Clara. Additionally, she holds a professional certification in HR and was the past President for the Northern California Chapter of IPMA-HR. She is currently the Western Region Vice-President for IPMA-HR and will begin her role as President in July, 2007.