Kirk Wester-Rivera

For over 25 years Kirk Wester-Rivera has been leading and supporting holistic neighborhood revitalization strategies and organizations. For 13 years he led the organization he founded, Growing Together, a highly successful neighborhood development organization in Tulsa, OK that aligned the Purpose Built Communities pillars and centered on the belief that by creating a thriving neighborhood by which children can thrive that we set the stage for a future of economic success and vitality. This work oversaw the creation of over 500 units of mixed-income housing (including a mixed-income neighborhood trust), neighborhood school transformation and the development of a CDFI to provide access to capital for neighborhood businesses.
In 2023, Kirk transitioned to Colorado where he founded Cerca Solutions, a consulting firm focused on developing capacity for organizations and leaders across the country that align with the same mission of creating thriving neighborhoods for under-resourced neighborhoods. Since that time, he has launched the Thriving Neighborhoods Lab, a collection of expertise in housing, education, economic development, community organizing and leadership development/capacity-building in order to meet the complex needs of efforts desiring a truly inclusive and just approach to advancing thriving neighborhoods.