Sivan received a Master's in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While at UNC, she worked in the training and capacity building division of MEASURE Evaluation, a USAID project focused on improving monitoring and evaluation capacity worldwide. She also spent time in Ecuador with Freedom from Hunger, a microfinance and health nonprofit, where she wrote case studies on promising health projects for the Center for Health Market Innovations initiative. Prior to her graduate studies, she managed several bilingual (Spanish and English) injury prevention research programs in Miami, Florida, and worked as a research assistant at the Center for Hemispheric Policy, a think tank devoted to Latin American-U.S. relations. In 2009, she graduated from the University of Miami, where she studied International Studies and Political Science and studied abroad in São Paulo, Brazil. In her free time, she volunteers with women's health organizations, enjoys sewing and crafts, and travels to Latin America every chance she gets.