Sam Rivera was named as a winner for The David Prize, which celebrates New Yorkers with big ideas for extraordinary change. Their work ranges from supporting sex workers, building new approaches to care for New Yorkers who use drugs, diversifying law schools, pushing the bounds of where restorative justice can be used, and championing public housing residents’ voices.
They write, “Sam has dedicated his life to helping people reduce self-harm. Inspired by his upbringing on the Lower East Side during the height of the crack epidemic and his mom’s work as a nurse, Sam learned what it meant to care for others: relentlessly and radically loving others until they are ready to love themselves. After leading HIV/AIDS programming at the Fortune Society, Sam joined OnPoint NYC, a small Harlem-based non-profit focused on harm reduction, as their Executive Director in 2020.”
