RIZE Massachusetts Foundation awards more than $1M in grants for harm reduction services and research projects with long-term impact on opioid crisis

RIZE News

October 23, 2019

RIZE Massachusetts Foundation (RIZE), an independent nonprofit foundation working to end the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts, announced today that it is awarding more than $1 million in grants to support harm reduction services and research projects that will have long-term impact on the opioid crisis in Massachusetts.

“RIZE advances the work of local organizations at the front lines of this crisis and supports the research needed to identify meaningful and long-lasting solutions,” said Steve Pollock, President and CEO of DentaQuest and Chair of the RIZE Board of Directors.

HARM REDUCTION SERVICES GRANTS
RIZE awarded nearly $600,000 to six community-based organizations in the second year of funding for its Enabling Health: Improving Harm Reduction Services in Massachusetts grant program. The six grantees are:
• AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod of Hyannis
• Fenway Health of Boston
• Greater Lawrence Family Health Center of Lawrence
• HRH413 of Northampton
• Kraft Center Mobile Health Initiative of Boston
• Life Connection Center of Lowell

Harm reduction is an approach that focuses on reducing the negative consequences of drug use and supporting individuals in embracing any positive change in their lives and health. The interventions can include a range of services such as overdose education, syringe services, and naloxone distribution.

The grantees were chosen because they have been providing evidence-based treatments to populations most adversely affected by the opioid crisis. They provide care through mobile health units, one-on-one harm reduction services, outreach in under-resourced communities, and to the hardest to reach, such as those experiencing homelessness.

Each month, the six programs collectively engage an average of 1,000 clients, distribute over 60,000 clean syringes and collect more than 70,000, and distribute more than 2,000 naloxone kits. These programs have connected individuals to clinical care and treatment, expanded their programing to offer more on-site services such as HIV/AIDS screening, and engaged with new partners to enhance community services.“We can prevent death and improve care for people suffering from opioid use disorder if we increase harm reduction services and integrate them with access to clinical addiction treatment programs. The first year of this program has demonstrated that harm reduction and low-threshold addiction treatment can help individuals make informed decisions about treatment options and services,” said Julie Burns, President and CEO, RIZE Massachusetts Foundation. “We are grateful to RIZE for partnering with us in the fight to end the opioid epidemic,” said Greater Lawrence Family Health Center President and CEO John F. Silva. “This additional grant money enables us to increase harm reduction services on our Mobile Health Unit and help more of our most vulnerable patients – people who are homeless and using substances. Because of the past support, GLFHC has been able to treat more than 120 patients on the Mobile Health Unit with substance use issues.”

INVESTIGATOR-LED RESEARCH GRANTS
RIZE also awarded nearly $500,000 to three organizations—Brandeis University, the Boston Public Health Commission, and the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine—that launched its Insights and Solutions: Massachusetts Opioid Crisis grant program.

“RIZE is committed to supporting research that will help change how addiction is recognized by the health care industry that potentially leads to actionable policy changes,” said Sarah Wakeman, MD, RIZE Chief Medical Officer and Medical Director for the Massachusetts General Hospital Substance Use Disorder Initiative. “The more we know about how to treat substance use disorders, the more we can help remove the stigma and get patients the care they need.”

The Brandeis University research project will explore how isolated physician networks can negatively impact care coordination and information sharing among physicians. The goal of the project is to identify system-level factors associated with the development and sustaining of buprenorphine prescribing in a community, in particular structural properties of prescriber patient-sharing networks in which waivered physicians are embedded, and how these properties vary in relation to community demographics including racial/ethnic makeup.

Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), in collaboration with the Institute for Community Health and Boston Medical Center (BMC), will examine the experiences and service-seeking behaviors of diverse Boston residents in the 30 days following an opioid overdose in order to understand factors that influence access to treatment and identify opportunities for systems change. Part of the research includes interviewing participants from BPHC’s Post Overdose Response Team, the city of Boston’s Engagement Center, and participants who have been hospitalized for an opioid overdose at BMC or accessed services at BMC’s Project TRUST.

Tufts University School of Dental Medicine’s project will deliver and evaluate a series of 10 validated controlled substance risk mitigation training modules to Massachusetts practicing dentists, dental hygienists, and oral surgeons.

“In a recent report, the Boston Public Health Commission identified racial inequities in accessing care, specifically that Black and Latinx residents have much lower odds of receiving subsequent treatment following an overdose,” said Monica Valdez Lupi, Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission. “This new and important grant funding will empower a city-wide team of collaborators to not only illuminate new understanding for why these racial inequities may exist but also develop lived-experience based recommendations that our healthcare providers may act upon.”

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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