Our Team

Arnie Rivera

Executive Director

Arnie Rivera brings decades of education experience to his role as the inaugural Executive Director of the Chicago Education Alliance. From first-grade teacher to Chief Operating Officer of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), he has developed a deep, systemwide understanding of Chicago’s education landscape and its challenges.

As CPS COO, he oversaw daily operations for one of the nation’s largest school systems, including 700 schools and administrative facilities. He directed a $340 million nutrition program serving 62 million meals annually and managed $2.5 billion in capital construction—the largest three-year investment in district history. His portfolio also included transportation, safety and security, information technology, and public affairs, and he played a key role in negotiating multiple collective bargaining agreements with the Chicago Teachers Union.

Earlier at CPS, Arnie served as Budget Director, where he helped strengthen the district’s approach to resource allocation by advancing more strategic, evidence-informed decision-making. As Chief of Public Policy, he led efforts to advance the district’s priorities across local, state, and federal levels, with oversight of policy areas that included the work of more than 500 Local School Councils. As Deputy Chief of Staff, he played a key role in planning and implementing major district-wide initiatives, including the extension of the school day and year, the expansion of International Baccalaureate programs, and the transition from half-day to full-day kindergarten across all elementary schools in the city.

His leadership experience spans both the nonprofit and public sectors. He served as Senior Strategic Advisor at After School Matters, helping expand programming to more than 30,000 students, and as COO of the Chicago Public Education Fund, where he led development efforts that raised $20 million. As Chief Administrative and Equity Officer at Navy Pier, he guided a five-year strategic plan and supported a return to pre-pandemic attendance of more than 8.5 million annual visitors.

Arnie also served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Education for the City of Chicago, directing the City’s education policy agenda from cradle to career. He currently serves as Chairman of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, following his appointment by Governor Pritzker in February 2023, and sits on several boards, including the Chicago History Museum.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Master of Science in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University.

Heather Wendell is joining the Chicago Education Alliance as Chief Operating Officer, bringing more than 20 years of leadership in K–12 education and nonprofit sectors. She has a proven track record of driving organizational strategy, managing complex operations, and advancing equity-focused initiatives that impact students, families, and communities.

Heather spent over two decades at Chicago Public Schools, where she held senior leadership roles including Chief Officer of Budget and Grant Management. In that role, she built a dynamic team across seven functional areas and oversaw the allocation of a $9.4 billion operating, capital, and debt service budget for 630 schools serving 320,000 students. Heather’s work also included the creation of a School Funding Working Group and Citywide School Budget Public Forums to share data and analysis and solicit community input to inform how CPS can improve equity and transparency in school funding.

Before serving as Chief Officer, Heather held several senior roles at Chicago Public Schools that shaped districtwide strategy and operations. As Executive Director of the Grants Office and Senior Manager of Grants Management and Administration, she launched and led teams overseeing $1.5 billion in annual grant funds, developed streamlined processes to support hundreds of schools, and ensured compliance with state and federal funding requirements, strengthening both school-level services and districtwide initiatives. As Deputy Chief of Staff to the CEO, she guided organizational planning and helped create and implement a five-year strategic plan across the central office and schools.

Recently, as Senior Director at Afton Partners, Heather led large-scale education consulting projects with state and local education agencies and nonprofits to elevate diverse stakeholder voices and translate research and data into actionable, system-wide solutions. Her work includes statewide early childhood policy and resource alignment, analysis and evaluation of funding models to inform policy and funding considerations to improve equity, and leading guidance development and communities of practice to support successful state, district, and local-level partnerships for implementation of state funding formulas, priorities, and policies.

Heather began her career as a High School teacher. She has a Bachelor of Science in English and Secondary Education from Ball State University, and a Master of Arts from Elmhurst College.