FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 2025
CONTACT:
Molly McKinney, Ball Consulting Group, LLC
Phone: 617-243-9950; Email: molly@ballcg.com
Liz Whynott Joins RIZE Massachusetts Foundation to Lead Municipal Training and Technical Assistance Program
BOSTON (June 10, 2025) – RIZE Massachusetts Foundation (RIZE), a nonprofit foundation solely dedicated to funding and collaborating on solutions to end the overdose crisis in Massachusetts, today announced that Liz Whynott is joining the organization as senior program officer and will lead the development and implementation of a new hub-and-spoke model for the state’s municipal training and technical assistance (TTA) program, which RIZE will assume control of on July 1 through its Mosaic Opioid Recovery Partnership (Mosaic). The program is funded by opioid settlement dollars.
“Liz brings deep experience, compassion, and a fierce commitment to the people and communities most deeply impacted by the opioid crisis,” said Julie Burns, president & CEO of RIZE. “She has spent her career building trust and creating programs that meet people where they are, and listening to the perspectives of people with lived and living experience. Under her leadership, municipalities can expect thoughtful, personalized support that helps communities turn opioid settlement funding into real change on the ground.”
The transition of oversight of TTA to RIZE is designed to streamline services, deepen community connections, and align training and technical assistance more closely with the state’s broader opioid abatement grantmaking strategy. RIZE’s current role in administering the community grantmaking program, including the Municipal Matching Grant program, will permit a more efficient and coordinated approach.
In her role, Whynott will guide TTA to help municipalities effectively utilize opioid abatement funds. The new model she is spearheading will embed regional coordinators across the Commonwealth, ensuring municipalities have a trusted, local partner to support the development of strategies and solutions, rooted in their communities, to end the opioid crisis.
“I’ve seen firsthand the power of meeting people in need with compassion, dignity, and practical support,” said Whynott. “I’m excited to bring that same philosophy to this next chapter at RIZE and to partner with municipalities and local leaders to make the most of these critical resources.”
Whynott joins RIZE after more than 15 years at Tapestry Health in Western Massachusetts, where she led efforts to expand harm reduction services across the region. Most recently, she served as director of harm reduction, managing teams, programs, and policy initiatives designed to reduce overdoses and increase health equity.
Whynott, a Northampton resident, holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a bachelor’s degree from Suffolk University.
Mosaic is a unique, public-private collaboration designed to support initiatives that are addressing the opioid overdose crisis in communities that have been historically underserved and have experienced a high rate of opioid-related overdose deaths. It is funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS), and powered by RIZE. The funding comes from the MA Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund (ORRF), which resulted from the historic legal effort to hold private companies accountable for the harms caused by the opioid overdose crisis.
About RIZE Massachusetts
RIZE Massachusetts Foundation (RIZE) is solely dedicated to funding and collaborating on solutions to end the overdose crisis. Guided by those with lived and living experience and unafraid of new ideas, RIZE is building networks, creating programming, and investing in community partners using novel approaches to preventing overdose and increasing access to treatment and recovery supports. RIZE makes health equity a programmatic priority by addressing root causes such as racism, systemic barriers to care, and power imbalances. Learn more at www.rizema.org.
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