District 1

Grace Rivera-Oven

Grace Rivera-Oven serves as president of the Montgomery County Board of Education, a role she assumed on December 1, 2025, after being elected by her fellow board members. She represents District 1 and was first elected to the Board in 2022.

Born in La Paz, Bolivia, Rivera-Oven came to the United States as a child and grew up in Montgomery County Public Schools, graduating from Gaithersburg High School. Like many immigrant students, she navigated a new language, a new system, and moments of uncertainty, but she was never alone. At the center of her journey was her mother, whose strength, resilience, and unwavering belief in education became her guiding force. Even without fluency in English, her mother showed up, asked questions, and stayed involved, instilling in her the belief that families are not outsiders in education, but essential partners.

That belief continues to define Rivera-Oven’s leadership. She is a strong advocate for family engagement, not as a program or initiative, but as a shared responsibility and a bridge between schools and communities. She believes that when families feel welcomed, respected, and included in decision-making, students are more confident, supported, and successful. Her work consistently calls on schools to open their doors wider, and on families to step forward, stay engaged, and see themselves as part of their children’s educational journey.

Rivera-Oven’s path has been shaped by perseverance and service. She worked from a young age while pursuing her education, eventually studying criminal justice at Montgomery College and earning her bachelor’s degree in legal studies from Hood College. Her early work in the State’s Attorney’s Office and Public Defender’s Office exposed her to deep inequities in the system, particularly for immigrant and Spanish-speaking communities, experiences that fueled her lifelong commitment to advocacy.

Throughout her career, she has led and supported initiatives focused on violence prevention, access to healthcare, and expanding opportunities for underserved families. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she founded the Upcounty Hub, a Germantown-based nonprofit that began in her own home and grew into a vital resource providing food and social services to more than 1,400 families each week. The effort reflected her belief that meeting families’ basic needs is fundamental to ensuring students can learn and succeed.

Her leadership extends across numerous community organizations and boards, always centered on building trust, creating access, and lifting voices that are often unheard. Prior to becoming Board president, she served as chair of the Committee on Special Populations, advocating for students who need the most support.

Rivera-Oven is the mother of three children, all of whom attended Montgomery County Public Schools. Her life and work are grounded in a simple but powerful belief: when families, schools, and communities come together—when every voice is heard and every family feels they belong—students have the opportunity not only to succeed, but to thrive.