We are thrilled to welcome Nina Riivald as the newest Senior Program Manager at The EdVenture Group!
With her deep passion for education and commitment to the Appalachian Region, Nina is an invaluable addition to our team. Her work across EdVenture’s project portfolio will help strengthen our community connections, and her expertise will further elevate our mission of empowering learners and transforming education.
Please join us in welcoming Nina to The EdVenture Group! We are excited to have her on board as we continue our mission-driven journey.
Let's get to know our newest Senior Program Manager:
What are you most excited about in your new role at The EdVenture Group?
N: I love teaching and I love the Appalachian Region. I’m thrilled to find an organization that aligns with my passions to embrace and support rural education initiatives. I will be able to travel and work with communities throughout the entire state of West Virginia and beyond. I’m also excited to teach for an education non-profit that was started by teacher and co-creates solutions.
How will your prior experience contribute to your new role at EdV?
N: I bring twenty years of educational experience that spans teaching and leadership roles in both urban and rural high schools, higher education, and research on cultivating Appalachian Community Cultural Wealth in the classroom. I was a teacher and student affairs coordinator in an arts-integrated high school in NYC. I came back home to WV and taught in an alternative learning center and then transitioned to higher education teaching Gender and Appalachian Studies. I recently completed my doctorate in Education exploring Appalachian Cultural Community Wealth and arts in the classroom. I hope that my background in working with diverse populations, cultures, and academic fields will offer alternative perspectives to the team conversations and projects.
What is a quote or saying that resonates with you as it relates to your views on the importance of education?
N: “The classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy.”
-Bell Hooks
The words of bell hooks shaped my views on education and teaching early in my career and they still resonate today. The classroom is a space where students are empowered. When voice and imagination are fostered, growth, creativity, and innovation happen. Each year I would receive more administrative or leadership responsivities in the school system, but the words of bell hooks reminded me to always center the classroom and students because that was the place of possibility.
What is a fun fact about you?
N: I am certified yoga instructor and I love to travel without an itinerary.
What can somebody find you doing outside of work hours for fun?
N: Outside of work, I can be found at the barn. One of my dear friends is a cutting horse trainer. I love to go to the barn to muck stalls, groom horses, and ride along to check the cows (when they let me).
I can also be found practicing Spanish (thanks Duolingo!) and planning my next travel adventure.
Nina's Bio
Nina is a Senior Program Manager at the EdVenture Group. Nina has over twenty years of experience spanning the fields of secondary education, higher education, student affairs, and philanthropy. She is committed to building inclusive communities, relationships, and celebrating Appalachian Joy.
Although West Virginia is Nina’s home and holds her heart, she started her teaching career in NY as a NYC Teaching Fellow. She worked as an English Language Arts teacher in an arts-integrated high school and the local Young Adult Burrough Center in the Bronx, NYC. Being immersed in the arts, Nina found her passion for teaching arts-based pedagogies. In addition to teaching, Nina was the Senior Advisor and Coordinator of Student Affairs during her NY teaching tenure.
Nina found her way back home to West Virginia and continued working in experiential education as a teacher for an Alternative Learning Center. Nina co-created innovative curricula designed to engage students through inquiry-based learning, arts, and technology with the team of alternative educators. Working with at risk youth allowed Nina to incorporate alternative ways of engaging students, including teaching yoga and mindfulness as restorative justice measures.
After working with at risk youth, Nina transitioned into a faculty position at West Virginia University with the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies. As a faculty member teaching the core and elective courses for the Women’s and Gender Studies majors/minors and for the Appalachian Studies minor, she developed arts-based and community participatory approaches to teaching. She encouraged critical thinking and empowered students to engage in social justice work. As a supervisor and mentor to undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants, Nina provided guidance in culturally relevant pedagogy and supported the professional growth of emerging educators and community advocates.
Nina took a small break from teaching and transitioned into philanthropy. She worked at a philanthropy serving organization as Director of Membership Engagement. She designed programs, professional development, and spearheaded an annual conference for grant makers to network and collaborate to strengthen philanthropic giving in the Mountain State. Nina is thrilled to find her way back into the education ecosystem as a Senior Program Manager and looks forward to reconnecting with school communities and to reimagine rural education.
Nina earned her BA in English, Language, and Literature with a minor in Women’s Studies and her MA in Women’s Studies directed liberal arts at West Virginia University. She earned her MS in Secondary English Education with a focus on urban education from Herbert Lehman College (CUNY) and her EdD in Social and Comparative Analysis of Education and Administrative & Policy Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. Nina’s research explored cultivating Appalachian Community Cultural Wealth though art and Appalachian place-based identities to amplify student voice.
