RIZE Massachusetts Announces Two New Board Members, Recipient of Joanne Peterson Award

RIZE News

December 12, 2023

BOSTON (Dec. 12, 2023) – RIZE Massachusetts, an independent nonprofit foundation solely dedicated to funding and creating solutions to end the overdose crisis, today announced the appointment of John Cook and Candace Reddy to its Board of Directors. RIZE also announced that The Sun Will Rise Foundation has received the Joanne Peterson Award honoring nonprofit organizations for their dedication to improving lives affected by the overdose crisis.

Cook is senior vice president of wealth management in the Boston office of financial services firm UBS. Reddy is chief of staff to the CEO and senior vice president for government & regulatory affairs at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

RIZE also announced the board reappointments of Jack Connors, the founder and former CEO of ad agency Hill Holliday, and Patricia Ma, executive vice president and chief legal officer at the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. Connors was a founding board member of RIZE when it was established in 2017, while Ma joined the board in 2022.

“RIZE has come a long way and made significant progress in our fight against the overdose epidemic and our efforts to end stigma around substance use disorder treatment,” said RIZE Board Chair Steve Pollock, President of DentaQuest, part of Sun Life U.S. “Our board will be well-served by the energy, experience and perspectives of our new board members, John and Candace, along with the continued service and strategic guidance of Jack and Patty.”

Cook joined UBS in 2016 following a career in campaign finance, strategy and budget operations. He worked for many years at the U.S. Department of Energy and the Pentagon, finishing his federal service as a senior advisor and director at the National Nuclear Security Administration. He previously served as a financial strategist and budget manager on a number of high-level political campaigns, and led the transition committee for the Baker-Polito Administration.

Cook has been a board member of Gosnold Behavioral Health, a longtime provider of behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment on Cape Cod, and The BASE, a nonprofit in Roxbury that uses the power of sports to engage youth. He graduated from the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University.

Reddy has more than 15 years of executive-level management experience in the public and private sectors. At Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the largest private health plan in the state, she leads the executive office and serves as the CEO’s liaison to key internal and external stakeholders.

Reddy previously served the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as assistant secretary for health care finance in the Executive Office for Administration and Finance, playing a leadership role in the state’s work to implement the Affordable Care Act. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business and an MBA in finance from Clark University.

Joanne Peterson Award

RIZE’s Board of Directors created the Joanne Peterson Award in 2022 in recognition of Peterson’s many contributions as a devoted leader in the peer-led support community, including as a founding board member and through the work of her organization, Learn to Cope. The annual award provides a one-time grant of $25,000 to the recipient.

This year’s award to The Sun Will Rise Foundation will have transformative effect on the organization, which focuses on providing free peer grief support for those experiencing the loss of a loved one to overdose. The organization plans to expand and tailor services to meet the needs of diverse populations, increase training and materials for peer support volunteers, increase public awareness of services, establish enhanced tools for data-driven decision making, reduce stress on fundraising, and focus efforts on furthering its positive impact on the lives of people who are bereaved due to loss related to substance use.

“The Sun Will Rise is a small nonprofit with a big heart, making a meaningful difference for people going through the most painful and vulnerable time as they mourn their loved ones,” said Julie Burns, President and CEO of RIZE Massachusetts. “We are proud to present the Joanne Peterson Award to an organization that embodies her values of care, compassion and hope.”

About RIZE Massachusetts 

RIZE Massachusetts Foundation is solely dedicated to funding and creating solutions to end the overdose crisis.  Guided by those with lived experience and unafraid of new ideas, RIZE is building networks, designing programming, and supporting community partners who are using novel approaches to preventing overdose and increasing access to treatment.  Learn more at www.rizema.org.

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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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