His life has recently been marked with milestones. A new title, a new job, a new office and a new addition to his family — a baby boy who goes by the name of Jake.
Though only 34-years-old, John Silveria has achieved much and continues to strive for more. Silveria was named the first ever Associate Director of Leadership Development in December.
He is a local boy, born and raised in Lowell. Silveria attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, graduating in 1992 with a bachelor’s Degree in economics and a minor in politics. Before heading to graduate school, Silveria worked for Ralston Purina, the Boston Stock Exchange and also started his own booking agency.
In 1997 he received his masters in higher education from Suffolk University, which led him to Boston University.
At BU he worked in the Student Activities Office, coordinating programming within residence halls. He also advised hall councils within residence halls and promoted social programming in the residence halls for three years.
Silveria then moved on to a dot-com for about six months, where he said he learned how to market directly to a university. Next, he worked for On Campus Marketing, which sells and promotes the Student Advantage Card. But at that point in his life, he said, he was working 60, 70, even 80 hours a week and decided he had to change his career path to improve his quality of life.
He came to Northeastern about a year and a half ago, starting at the Curry Student Center as the associate director of operations.
“John has always been a wonderful member of the staff. He has always been a team player, he’s always contributed beyond his job description, if you will,” said Associate Dean and Director of the Student Center and Activities Gail Olyha. “This position is a promotion for John, that’s always a nice thing to see your staff move on and be successful in another role … That’s great for him and that’s great for us.”
Silveria also just received his MBA from BU in May and six months ago, he became a father. He said his new role as a dad has put everything into perspective.
“There’s a part of you that realizes that your responsibilities or your priorities change, and that what you do in raising Jake and in having him, there was this revelation, the things that I do and the choices that I make always have an effect on myself and my life, but there’s just a whole different level of responsibility,” he said.
“And there’s somebody that depends on me to be home to see them and it’s not just my dog. It’s not just coming home so that Kate and I can spend time together, it’s making sure I’m there to see different milestones.”
The new position is a promotion for Silveria and he said that he is prepared to balance his role as a father, husband and the director of leadership development.
“You want to be there for them and you make sure that you are. And it means that when you’re here, you focus on the aspects of your job and that also means that sometimes you find yourself at home working late at night to get some stuff done after your son goes to sleep.”
After six years of marriage, Silveria’s wife, Kate, has seen him transition from the corporate world to higher education and he has watched her complete law school, work for a private practice and, currently, work for the state. And through it all, he said, they keep motivating one another.
“I think that Kate, Kate has always been extraordinarily supportive of my career choices and I think that in many ways she is excited about this because I think she knows there’s a lot of opportunity for me to make this program that much stronger in many ways … I think she likes the fact that I’m continually energized about the work that I do and that, if anything, the challenge is always making sure you balance your time,” he said.
Silveria will report directly to Director of Student Activities Todd Shaver, who said he is optimistic about LEGO’s future.
“He’s so well liked and respected and that background