Dr. Milagros (Millie) Rivera has been a university professor for over 20 years. She graduated with a Ph.D. in media law and policy from the University of Florida, in the U.S.A. She has taught in universities in the U.S.A., Chile, Singapore and South Africa; and has presented her research in more than 20 countries. In 2012 she founded Kerplunk Personal Mastery and began to conduct training in the area of personal mastery, self-awareness, transformational leadership, and emotional wellness.
In 2002 Millie left her job at Indiana University in the U.S.A. and accepted a position as associate professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS). There she was promoted to head of department (HOD) and began the process of building a communications and new media (CNM) program of global excellence. After becoming CNM’s head, Millie obtained a SGD$1.6 million grant (almost 12 million Rands) to add a stream in communication management and another in interactive media (game/interactive/visual design and human-computer interaction). Starting with a base staff of six lecturers, she hired a diverse and multidisciplinary team of 35 teaching staff from more than 15 countries in areas such as computing, human computer interaction, engineering, game and visual design, digital/traditional art, music, social and cognitive psychology, economics, media studies, communication management, and health communications. Under Millie’s leadership, CNM grew from 200 to more than 800 students and in only six years the program was ranked as the third best communications and media program globally (QS Global Rankings by Subject, July 2012).
As a professor of media and communication law and policy, Millie received more than 12 teaching awards, including induction into the NUS Hall of Fame for Outstanding Teachers, and she mentored her staff to win more than 35 teaching awards during her eight years as HOD. But, in her opinion, her greatest achievement was to create a work environment where colleagues from diverse cultures, races, nationalities and academic training worked harmoniously toward a common vision in a family-like environment that became a model for other departments at NUS.
Millie is passionate about coaching people embrace their talents, overcome their self-imposed limitations and live a joyful and peaceful life. This passion became her part-time interest at the National University of Singapore, where she created and led an emotional wellness program for students and staff for three years, serving more than 1,000 people. For her dedication to empowering students and staff to achieve emotional wellness, she received the 2011 NUS Wellness Ambassador Award, the first of its kind issued to a professor and head of department.
During her ten years living and working in Asia, Millie traveled extensively and participated in numerous retreats and workshops in the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, India, Nepal, Bali (Indonesia), and South Africa in areas related to meditation, harmonious living, forgiveness, emotional healing, pranic healing, kinesiology as well as spiritual (non-religious) and personal mastery. After extensively using all these principles in her academic teaching and leadership role, Millie decided to turn her passion into her life work. She developed an interdisciplinary experiential curriculum on personal mastery that covers emotional intelligence, conscious communication, mindfulness, emotional healing, and personal leadership. Millie can be reached at millie@kerplunkmastery.com. You can view her academic profile at www.milagrosrivera.com.
Mission: Through Kerplunk Personal Mastery, Millie aims to empower individuals to live peacefully and with integrity. She also aims to coach corporate, non-profit, and government leaders and staff to work in a peaceful, harmonious and productive environment, where every person is able to reach his or her highest potential and contribute with integrity and passion.
Vision: To promote personal transformation throughout the world through increased self-awareness.