Meet the Team
Alfredo M. Vidal, M.P.A.
PartnerMr. Vidal has succeeded in the both the private and public sectors by crafting valuable solutions to complex government issues. He has served as president of The Vidal Group, LLC, representing a diverse client base on issues including health care, small business development and labor, since 2005.
Prior to running his own successful lobbying firm, Mr. Vidal was a founding partner of Brown, Vidal and Weinraub, LLC. He had formerly been a senior associate with Weinraub and Ostroff, and earlier served as an ombudsman for the New York State Secretary of State, the director of finance for the Division of Human Rights, assistant director of Intergovernmental and Legislative Affairs for Governor Cuomo and senior internal auditor for the Department of Transportation.
Mr. Vidal received a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University in International Relations and Spanish Language, Literature and Culture. He earned a master’s degree in Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He is a founding board member of Voto Latino, which is dedicated to empowering the Latino Community through the use of technology to encourage voting across the United States.
Peter M. Rivera, Esq.
OF COUNSEL“My career has always been about improving the representation of underserved communities and organizations for the benefit of all.”
“Excelsior Advisors is built on trust, credibility and experience. These qualities are essential for strong representation in Albany.”
The Honorable Peter M. Rivera has dedicated his career to fighting for fair and balanced laws, policies, programs and enforcement. He was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1992, where he served as the chair of the Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force and the Committee on Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. He resigned in 2012 to become New York State Commissioner of Labor. His work speaks volumes about the core values of Excelsior Advisors.
He started his career as a patrolman and detective with the New York City Police Department. After graduating from law school in 1975, he served as assistant district attorney in The Bronx before going into private practice. He represented Raymond Santana, one of the defendants in the Central Park jogger case, in 1990. His law practice is focused on employment law, civil rights and criminal law.
Mr. Rivera was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He earned his BBA at Pace University and his JD at St. John’s Law School.
Born in El Barrio and raised in the South Bronx, Dan Irizarry is a writer, community activist and founder of Capital District Latino Advocacy Through Inter-Neighborhood Outreach Services (CD LATINOS or CDL). Founded in 2011, CDL is a proud affiliate of the Acacia Network, the state’s largest Latino-led health and human services not-for-profit (second largest nationally). In December of 2017, CDL acquired the former St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church and repurposed the building as the CDL Cultural Empowerment & Community Engagement Center—the only area Latino-owned institution of its kind in the Capital Region.
Dan’s writing has been published in the Albany Times Union, Schenectady Gazette, as well as the New York State Writers Institute Trolley Literary Journal. He is also a frequent guest on WAMC’s The Roundtable radio program.