Sam Rivera, Vice President / COO

Sam has twenty years of progressive experience in Substance Abuse Treatment, Criminal Justice and HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care. During these twenty years, Sam has worked both as a direct service provider and administrator.  He is the former Senior Director of Health & Transitional Services at the Fortune Society where he worked in several positions for more than 10 years.  He also worked at the Women’s Prison Association as the Director of Prison and Jail Services and at Community Health Action of Staten Island as the Director of Health Education & Prevention. Sam focuses his efforts on reducing the frequency of behaviors that place people at risk for substance abuse, HIV and imprisonment. He uses a “Holistic Approach" emphasizing the importance of the "whole person” and the interdependence of its parts (education/gender/class/ethnicity/culture/family etc.)

Samantha Lopez-Fernandez, Chief Administrative Officer

Samantha Lopez-Fernandez, has been with the agency for over seven years first as Director of Development & Contracts and later as Director of Quality Assurance.  Prior to coming to Exponents Ms. Lopez-Fernandez, a graduate of New York University, was at HIV Care Services, a program of MHRA, where she managed a portfolio of over 30 Ryan White Title I contracts.  She began working in the non-profit sector as Asst. Director, Program Development for Elmhurst Hospital Center 15 years ago.  Ms. Lopez-Fernandez has also served on the Community Advisory Boards of two MHRA projects, FITA and HIV CARE services.

Regina Edwards, Chief Financial Officer

Regina Edwards came to Exponents 12 years ago as the Director of Finance with extensive nonprofit financial experience. She earned her degree in Accounting from Lehman College, Bronx NY, and has worked in the not for profit sector for over 23 years. Ms. Edwards served 6 years as Board Treasurer for the HIV Law Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing legal representation and advocacy for low income people with HIV/AIDS.