Michelle Rivas

Michelle Rivas Notestine is a storyteller, educator, and a health communications professional in the biopharmaceutical field. At Horizon Therapeutics, she manages the company’s rare disease communications program raising awareness through storytelling and manages signature partnerships and programs supporting greater health equity for the rare disease community. She draws upon her background in journalism and health communication to address gaps in healthcare and empower people to share their authentic voice. Specializing in strategic brand communications, she previously worked in the healthcare public relations sector in the large agency setting. She also taught health communication at DePaul University as an adjunct instructor in Chicago.

With a passion and focus in providing culturally empathetic healthcare, Michelle is an authoritative voice in Latine health writing and a digital influencer. She received a Latina Magazine 30 Under 30 award for her blog thehealthylatina.com. She serves on CommunityHealth’s Associate Board and is an advocate for advancing healthcare access for Chicago’s most vulnerable communities and Gift of Adoption’s Illinois Chapter Board uniting vulnerable children with permanent families. She recently completed a social impact MBA from Loyola University through the Baumhart Scholars program in the Quinlan School of Business. Her education also includes a MA from DePaul University in health communication from the College of Communication in 2015 and a BA in journalism and mass communication from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State in 2013.