Founder, FirstGen Wealth
Valerie Rivera, CFP, is the founder of FirstGen Wealth, a virtual, fee-only financial planning practice serving individuals and families who are the First to build wealth in their world. Her mission is to break this cycle and close the wealth divide. She focuses on providing education and meeting people where they are in life with no shame or judgment advice to change the trajectory of their lives and generations to come.
In 2023, Investopedia named Valerie one of the country’s top 100 independent financial advisors. She is part of the 1% of Latinas holding the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER designation, the gold standard of financial planning.
Valerie is a Forbes Advisory board member and board member of the nonprofit Working Credit, which partners with communities and individuals to interrupt the effects of structural racism by providing credit-building education.
She is a proud first-gen Mexican-American, born and raised in the Southside of Chicago. She continues to live there today with her husband and their five-year-old daughter, Violet Esperanza.