State Senator Kristen McDonald Rivet

With more than 30 years of experience in public policy and advocacy, Senator Kristen McDonald Rivet knows firsthand how to champion our communities and step up as a leader. She is serving her first term in the Michigan Senate.

Throughout her career, McDonald Rivet has worked for systemic change to improve employment and educational opportunities, revitalize neighborhoods, increase youth development programs and create public policy addressing institutional inequity issues.

Prior to being elected to the Senate, she served as executive director of the Michigan Head Start Association, vice president of Michigan Future, Inc., and president/CEO of Greater Midland, Inc. She was also a Bay City Commissioner, a position that she was elected to in 2019 and most recently served as chief strategy officer for the Michigan Health Improvement Alliance.

McDonald Rivet has a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in education and public administration from the University of Michigan-Flint. She and her husband, Joseph, are proud parents of six children and live in Bay City.