09/28/2026
Amber Rivas, MSW, Aviva’s President & CEO, recently joined an event hosted by Entertainment to Affect Change (E2AC), an organization dedicated to creating positive change through storytelling.
The evening opened with a screening of Mama Bears—a documentary about conservative Christian mothers who come to fully embrace their LGBTQ+ children. Amber then joined a Q&A on what that kind of acceptance looks like in practice, and how it shows up every day at Aviva's Lifting Youth Up Drop-In Center.
For the young people who walk through our doors, acceptance has to be more than something we say. It means having their identity respected by staff who learn their name, access to gender-affirming items through our Rainbow Resource Closet, and people around them who understand their experiences. For a young person who has been turned away before, that sense of belonging can be the foundation for everything that comes next.
We're grateful to E2AC for the invitation and for bringing together people who care about this work. A special thank you to Aviva board member Jennie Morris for so generously opening her home for this event.
