RIZE Massachusetts Appoints Chief Program Officer and Associate Program Officers

RIZE News

June 18, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Molly McKinney, Ball Consulting Group, LLC
Phone: 617-243-9950; Email: molly@ballcg.com

RIZE Massachusetts Appoints Chief Program Officer and Associate Program Officers

BOSTON, Mass. (June 18, 2024) – RIZE Massachusetts Foundation (RIZE), an independent nonprofit foundation solely dedicated to funding and creating solutions to end the overdose crisis in Massachusetts, today announced the recent appointments of Jennifer Tracey as chief program officer, along with two new associate program officers, Annmarie Benedict Pagliano and Elizabeth Kinnard.

The program team will manage the strategic growth and implementation of RIZE’s programmatic initiatives, focusing on grants administration, community building and thought leadership. They will work closely with stakeholders to strengthen relationships, networks, philanthropic partnerships, strategic coalitions, and in support of the foundation’s innovative approaches to preventing overdose and increasing access to treatment. The team will lead the implementation of comprehensive evaluation and learning strategies to understand and strengthen the foundation’s impact.

“Our grantmaking and programmatic initiatives are the primary function of our organization and we are excited to welcome Jen, Annmarie and Elizabeth to the team,” said RIZE President and CEO Julie Burns. “They are all accomplished professionals with deep appreciation and passion for RIZE’s mission, vision and values.

“Their experience in program design, grantmaking practices and evaluation will be a tremendous asset for our mission, especially as we launch the Mosaic Opioid Recovery Partnership,” Burns added. Mosaic is a public-private partnership between RIZE and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health specifically designed to support communities and populations that have been historically underserved and have experienced a high rate of opioid-related overdose deaths through support from opioid settlement funds.

Tracey previously served as the inaugural director of the Boston Mayor’s Office of Recovery Services (ORS), the first municipal substance use recovery office in the country that leads all substance use recovery policy and initiatives for the City of Boston. Prior to her tenure at ORS, she served as the director of youth and young adult services for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS) developing age-appropriate recovery services for young adults, including the first young adult residential treatment programs, and helped supervise the opening of Massachusetts’ first recovery high schools. Tracey started her career at BSAS as Boston regional manager, overseeing substance use prevention, intervention and support services throughout the city’s neighborhoods.

Tracey served on the Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund Advisory Council, where she was instrumental in developing recommendations for the expenditure of the Opioid Recovery and Remediation Trust Fund to mitigate the impacts of the opioid epidemic in the Commonwealth. The Dorchester resident earned a bachelor’s degree from Providence College and holds a master’s degree in social work from Salem State University.

Pagliano previously served as grants management consultant at Disability Rights Fund, helping redesign grantmaking processes. She served as migration narrative executive at Social Change Initiative in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where she designed and lead a multimillion-dollar grantmaking program to increase the communications capacity of non-governmental agencies welcoming migrants across Europe. Throughout Pagliano’s 14 years at The Atlantic Philanthropies (USA) Inc., she directed grant programs seeking criminal justice reform and protecting human rights.

Pagliano volunteers as a strategy and grantmaking advisor for a fund at the Tides Foundation. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and earned a master’s degree in fine arts from The New School.

Kinnard will focus on monitoring, evaluation and learning in her new role at RIZE. She previously served as associate director of implementation science on the HEALing Communities Study at Boston Medical Center, focused on reducing overdose deaths in Massachusetts through community-engaged research. Kinnard also served as a research analyst in the behavioral health research division of RTI International, conducting research on disparities in access to naloxone. She supported state and national organizations in substance use disorder advocacy as a program associate for Community Catalyst.

Kinnard earned a bachelor’s degree in public health and a master’s degree in behavioral and social health services from Brown University. She holds a master’s degree in epidemiology from the University of California, Berkeley.

About RIZE Massachusetts

RIZE Massachusetts 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 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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