Staff 
Coretta Rivers
U-Turn Permitted Program Manager
773-638-1806
Coretta Rivers, part of NLEN's workforce development team, currently functions as the Program Manager for the U-Turn Permitted program and Transitional Jobs Program. She offers workforce coaching and well as manages the entire program. At NLEN, Coretta has been able to engage her long-standing passion to work with ex-offenders and the barriers they face daily.
“Coretta has previously volunteered for the Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) as a case manager for families involved with DCFS. It was there that Coretta got her first taste of direct service work, prompting her to decide to pursue a career path of social work. In 1993, Coretta was hired on as a foster care case worker for a DCFS private agency, and worked to reunite separated families and children. On a daily basis she dealt with the emotional impact of divided families, and found this work to be very fulfilling. Nevertheless, after fourteen years she decided that it was time to work with a different population. Because of her background in criminal justice in June of 2007 hired at NLEN as a workforce coach. In June of 2009 Coretta was promoted to Program Manager of U-Turn Permitted.
“An All-American college student, Coretta received a 4-year volleyball scholarship to attend Jackson State University where she completed a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. She currently holds a Master degree in Non Profit Management from Spertus College in Chicago