ABOUT US
CRISTINA CALVILLO-RIVERA
Principal & Co-Founder
Cristina Calvillo-Rivera brings nearly 20 years of experience in local, state, and national nonprofits, specializing in leadership development, facilitation, and organizational growth. As Principal and Lead Facilitator of CR Strategies, she helps mission-driven organizations and coalitions reflect on where they’ve been, align on where they’re going, and imagine what’s possible.
Cristina designs and facilitates strategic planning processes, leadership and board retreats, and team alignment sessions that strengthen collaboration, clarify direction, and translate vision into action. She also helps organizations improve communication, clarify roles and responsibilities, and develop internal processes that support their people and goals. Her facilitation style blends structure and creativity, grounded in inclusive practices, clear frameworks, and deep reflection, to help teams do their best thinking together.
Through her leadership coaching, Cristina supports directors and managers as they navigate the day-to-day complexities of leading people and advancing organizational priorities. She helps clients work through conflict, plan and prioritize, strengthen team relationships, and manage up with greater clarity and confidence. Her coaching combines space for reflection with practical tools and next steps leaders can apply in their work.
Cristina began her career in her hometown of El Paso, Texas, leading LGBTQ community education and supporting high school students in establishing Gay-Straight Alliances. She later developed youth education programs at Mothers Against Drunk Driving in New Mexico before advancing to national leadership roles at Young Invincibles in Washington, DC. There, she led youth engagement strategies, designed curricula, and facilitated nationwide trainings on economic policies affecting young adults. At Consumer Reports, she helped pioneer the organization’s first community development program in its then 80-year history.
As a founding employee and Training and Engagement Director at Instituto in Phoenix, Arizona, Cristina helped create a statewide leadership development fellowship for electoral and advocacy leaders and established foundational hiring and onboarding processes. These experiences shape her practical, people-centered approach to helping leaders and organizations grow.
AMBAR CALVILLO-RIVERA
Founder & Senior Advisor
Ambar brings over 15 years of experience in strategic partner engagement, coalition building, and civic engagement across diverse communities. She most recently served as Vice President of Capacity Building at City Fund, where she led initiatives to maximize grantee impact in expanding high-quality educational opportunities nationwide. She oversaw leadership development programs, built support systems, and facilitated the sharing of best practices across the organization's network of 40+ CEOs and Executive Directors. She has managed national education and awareness campaigns, built and engaged national coalitions, and executed large-scale summits and conferences. Ambar served as the Vice President of Campaigns for Voto Latino, where she led the implementation of Somos Más, a national campaign that mobilized young Latinos ahead of the historic 2018 midterm elections, successfully registering over 200,000 people to vote in 11 states with 76% voter turnout. Prior to that, Ambar led the mobilization of national organizations and caucuses during the historic 2017 special elections to support down-ballot candidates across the country as the Director of Community Engagement and Strategic Partnerships at the Democratic National Committee (DNC). She also previously served as National Director of Field and Partner Engagement for Enroll America, where she led a multi-state team and national partner program to implement an awareness campaign for the Affordable Care Act.
At CR Strategies, she oversees leadership development programs, coaching services, fellowship experiences, and event design.
She is currently serving as the Executive Director of Early Matters El Paso, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing access to high-quality and affordable childcare in the El Paso region.