RIZE Massachusetts Adds New Hires to its Executive Team — Seasoned professionals will bolster program development and public affairs

RIZE News

September 27, 2021

For Immediate Release: September 27, 2021

BOSTON — September 27 — RIZE Massachusetts Foundation (RIZE), an independent nonprofit
foundation working to end the overdose epidemic in Massachusetts, today announced the
appointment of Dr. Thérèse Fitzgerald as chief program officer and Kathleen Glunz Skarin as
senior engagement officer. Both bring decades of experience and seasoned leadership to their
respective posts.

“With the two experienced professionals we have in Thérèse and Kathleen, RIZE is building its
team to meet this important moment given the state of the overdose epidemic in Massachusetts,”
said RIZE President & CEO Julie Burns. “Their public health expertise and demonstrated
success building coalitions to effect change will enable RIZE to make a real impact on our work
to end the overdose crisis.”

Thérèse Fitzgerald, Chief Program Officer

Thérèse Fitzgerald, PhD, MSW is joining RIZE as chief program officer. In her new role,
Thérèse will lead the strategic growth of RIZE’s grantmaking and programmatic initiatives,
helping scale the foundation’s efforts to achieve its vision of zero stigma and zero deaths.
Dr. Fitzgerald has spent her career working to improve health care for underserved populations
as a researcher, policy expert, and advocate. Before joining RIZE, Thérèse served as the director
of research for The American City Coalition (TACC) conducting community-based research to
address the social determinants of health in marginalized communities. Prior to her work at
TACC, she was the director of healthcare research, analytics & insights at the Massachusetts
Medical Society. Thérèse also served as the director of women’s health policy & advocacy at the
Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health & Gender Biology at Brigham and
Women’s Hospital advocating for changes in public policy locally, nationally, and globally.

She has extensive research and policy experience in the field of addiction having served as the
associate director of the Center for Addiction Research and Services (CARS) at Boston
University’s School of Social Work andcontinues her work in higher education teaching and
mentoring as an instructor of practice at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health
and as a lecturer at Boston University School of Social Work.

Dr. Fitzgerald received her PhD and MSW from Boston University and a BS from the University
of Massachusetts Boston in Management and Psychology.

Kathleen Glunz Skarin, Senior Engagement Officer

Kathleen Glunz Skarin is senior engagement officer at RIZE Massachusetts Foundation. In this
role, Kathleen oversees public affairs, including government relations, communications, and
board relations. Prior to her position at RIZE, Kathleen spent more than 25 years in high-
intensity political and professional environments. Her career began in Washington, DC in the
United States Senate where she served on the legislative staff of Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
After four years in the Senate, she joined Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Washington office where
she spent seven years working with Congress and the executive branch on issues important to the
city of Chicago.

After moving to Boston in 2005, she held several senior executive and management positions in
the public sector. She served as staff director on two committees in the Massachusetts
Legislature: The Joint Committee on Public Health (2007-2009) and the Joint Committee on
Financial Services (2009-2011). During this time, she managed the daily operations of the
respective committees and developed the policy agenda with the chairman and committee staff.
As chief of staff at the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office for nearly a decade, she served as a member of
the sheriff’s command staff and was involved in executing priority initiatives, including the
medication assisted treatment pilot program involving several Massachusetts sheriffs.
Most recently as director of strategic partnerships for the New England Aquarium, Kathleen
identified and established affiliate relationships in support of strategic priorities for the New
England Aquarium.

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About RIZE Massachusetts

RIZE Massachusetts is an independent nonprofit foundation committed to achieving zero stigma
and zero deaths related to opioid use disorder by investing in meaningful solutions and
employing broad perspectives that will save lives, reduce harm, and end the opioid epidemic in
Massachusetts.

Position Summary

Mosaic Opioid Recovery Partnership (Mosaic), funded by the MA Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Addiction Services and powered by RIZE Massachusetts Foundation (RIZE), is a partnership like no other. It 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.

The funding for Mosaic comes from the Massachusetts Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund (ORRF), which resulted from the historic legal effort to demand justice from several private companies for the harms caused by the opioid epidemic. This is one of the first public-private partnerships of this magnitude using settlement funds for community-led initiatives.

In partnership with BSAS and municipalities receiving opioid abatement funds, RIZE manages the Municipal Training and Technical Assistance (Muni TTA) Program. This program aligns with Mosaic’s mission to ensure that opioid abatement funds are invested and remain in the communities most deeply impacted by the crisis while also fueling transformative change through grassroots, community-led efforts.

The Muni TTA project manager provides project management, data, and operational support, ensuring the Muni TTA Program runs smoothly, is well documented, and is grounded in data. This role translates program strategy into concrete workplans, tracking systems, and reporting products, and provides day-to-day task direction to the program coordinator on project deliverables.

RIZE seeks someone for this position who is passionate about ending the overdose crisis and unafraid of new ideas. Success will require a positive, can-do, learning mindset and a collaborative, team-oriented approach. We are looking for candidates who understand how complex and interconnected issues, such as funding, data systems, and municipal government structures, intersect with addressing the overdose crisis.

The project manager supports the implementation of the Muni TTA workplan and Salesforce data infrastructure, coordinates monthly and quarterly reporting, provides project management support to four regional community advisory boards (CABs), and manages the logistics and content pipeline for the program's webinar series and newsletter. This position reports to the chief program officer (CPO) and works closely with the senior program officer (SPO).

 

Key Responsibilities

1. Workplan & Data Management

  • Oversee the Muni TTA workplan and Asana project management structure across six program goals: Proactive Outreach; Communications and Engagement; Quality Assurance and Team Development; Evaluation and Reporting; Intermunicipal Collaboration and Partnerships; and Community Advisory Boards. Monitor and keep progress, and identify risks or adjustments needed to keep deliverables on track
  • Set and monitor Salesforce data quality standards, oversee the Mosaic Muni TTA dashboard in coordination with the program coordinator, and produce reports; identify data quality issues and recommend adjustments to tracked metrics as the program evolves.
  • Monitor case documentation and tracking; compile monthly quality-review summaries for senior management review.
  • Support municipal capacity assessments by synthesizing results, identifying gaps, and helping the SPO draft action plans that reflect program priorities and municipal needs.

2. Reporting & Leadership Support

  • Compile regular qualitative reports, drafting the consolidated narrative of outcomes, barriers, and strategic adjustments for the SPO to finalize.
  • Develop regular progress updates, data summaries, and briefing materials for senior leadership, translating program activity and outcomes into clear talking points for internal review and external stakeholder discussions.
  • Coordinate senior leadership meeting preparation by identifying needed inputs, shaping agendas around key decisions, and ensuring materials are ready for review and follow-up. Coordinate post meeting follow-up.
  • Participate in cross-sector coordination meetings as needed to support data, reporting, or project management needs.

3. Community Advisory Board & Event Support

  • Provide project management for CAB implementation tracking progress and outcome metrics.
  • Direct administrative support for CABs, including materials preparation and outreach coordination.
  • Coordinate logistics, timelines, materials, follow-up, and slide preparation for regional and statewide presentations, meetings, and events.

4. Communications & Content Pipeline

  • Project-manage Mosaic TTA webinars: in coordination with the program coordinator maintain the topic and speaker pipeline, coordinate scheduling and logistics, and track post-session evaluations.
  • Project-manage Muni TTA bulletin and newsletter production, coordinating content collection, drafting, and oversee program coordinator with distribution timelines, and tracking engagement analytics.
  • Direct the program coordinator's development of training materials and slide decks; review for quality and program alignment before routing to senior leadership for approval.

 

Qualifications

Required

  • Strong organizational and time management skills
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, and virtual meeting platforms
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Preferred

  • Experience in public health, behavioral health, or harm reduction
  • Familiarity with workforce development initiatives
  • Experience supporting coalitions or multi-partner collaborations
  • Experience working with communities disproportionately impacted by substance use and overdose

Core Competencies

  • Commitment to harm reduction philosophy and health equity
  • Cultural humility and trauma-informed approach
  • Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
  • Strong interpersonal skills and collaborative mindset
  • High level of discretion and professionalism
  • Bachelor's degree in public health, public administration, business, or a related field and a minimum of five years of relevant experience; or a master's degree and a minimum of two years of experience.
  • Demonstrated project management experience, ideally within a public health, government, or nonprofit setting.
  • Strong data and systems management skills; experience with Salesforce, or a comparable CRM/database strongly preferred.
  • Experience managing workplans, timelines, and reporting cycles.
  • Experience with supervision preferred.
  • Excellent written communication skills, including experience drafting reports and briefing materials for review by senior staff.
  • Proficiency with Salesforce, Asana, Microsoft Office 365, and virtual conferencing platforms; familiarity with Canva, WordPress, and Constant Contact a plus.
  • Knowledge of the Massachusetts opioid settlement funding landscape and municipal government structures preferred.

Skills, Abilities, Attributes

  • Strong organizational skills and sound judgment in a fast-paced, small-team, collegial environment.
  • Comfortable managing competing priorities and shifting timelines with minimal oversight.
  • Demonstrated track record of sustained high-quality, independent work in fast-paced environments.
  • Effective relationship-builder able to coordinate across internal teams and external stakeholders.
  • Ability to exercise discretion in handling confidential or sensitive information.
  • Motivated by a keen sense of mission and values with a willingness to embrace and actively support RIZE's agenda.

Work Environment

The Municipal TTA project manager is a full-time, hybrid role. RIZE is in downtown Boston; travel, primarily in-state, will be required for meetings and events as needed. This role may require evening and occasional weekend work.

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