Whether building a better world on a lab bench, at a hospital or nursing home, in a residential program, at a school, college or university, or by providing funding or professional services in support of such work, our clients drive our own passion. Telling these stories to build support for such great causes is what makes opening our laptops every morning so exciting. Thank you.

Human beings’ instinctual drive to “find a better way” is the crux of innovation – we will always seek a better way to bring light to darkness, to communicate with those near and far and to cure illness. The Food Allergy Science Initiative – known as FASI – is a nonprofit founded by a group of parents of children with food allergies with a mission of finding a better way to diagnose, treat and, ultimately, cure food allergies, a life-altering condition that can be lethal and affects more than 30 million Americans.

In February, the nonprofit that launched in 2016 as part of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard began a new era as an independent organization to build upon its research and intensify its efforts to better understand why some people’s bodies create a toxic reaction to certain foods. This requires greater cross-disciplinary knowledge of both the brain-gut relationship and the human microbiome. FASI’s foundational science will be shared openly with researchers around the globe.

In a MassLive op-ed, FASI’s founder and executive director, Dr. Christine Olsen, notes how little progress has been made in the study and treatment of food allergies over the past several decades. But now, given the development of new tools and techniques, FASI’s broader research into the causes of food allergies brings the scientific community closer to a breakthrough. 

Cure Rare Disease is developing a CRISPR-based gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and plans to dose its first human subject later this year. The nonprofit biotech company's recent collaboration with the video gaming community to help raise money for continued research and development was featured by MassLive and WBZ NewsRadio.

RIZE Massachusetts launched a toolkit to help people recovering from opioid use disorder better navigate care options and understand their rights. To build awareness of the resource, the foundation hosted an online event with Attorney General Maura Healey that was covered by WBZ NewsRadio. 

Summit Health Law Partners has named attorneys Richard Goldstein and Robert (Bob) Peabody to its litigation practice. Between them, Goldstein and Peabody bring six decades of legal experience from both sides of the courtroom. Both attorneys have served as prosecutors and civil and criminal defense attorneys. Their appointments were covered in POLITICO, Law360, and State House News Service.

The Humane Farming Association is working to ensure that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts implements anti-farm animal cruelty regulations overwhelmingly passed by a ballot measure in 2016. In a CommonWealth Magazine op-ed, HFA’s national director, Bradley Miller, criticized the actions of out-of-state egg producers seeking to reduce the space requirements for egg-laying hens that were mandated by the referendum.

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic altered the health care landscape, UTM:Healthcare foresaw the trend toward remote patient monitoring and created an intuitive, smartphone-based application that can be easily utilized by patients and providers alike. The New York-based company recently announced enhancements to its platform, with the news covered by the Albany Business Review.

Westwood-based nonprofit Lifeworks pulled out all the stops to boost hiring. Its “Get rich in human services” campaign was featured on the front page of the MetroWest Daily News. The recruitment push, which included a billboard on Route 1 and a revamped interview process, helped the agency make gains in filling vacancies caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the chorus of thought leaders calling on the Biden Administration to act on critical priorities during its first 100 days was HFI founder and CEO Gerard Vitti. In a Morning Consult op-ed, he implored the administration to reverse former President Trump’s expanded “public charge” rule that kept legal immigrants from seeking Medicaid coverage and other benefits.

 

Volunteers of America of Massachusetts has been a leader in developing programs to improve reentry for people leaving the correctional system to ensure long-term success. In a CommonWealth magazine op-ed, CEO Charles Gagnon makes the case for a broader public investment in reentry programs that reduce recidivism, arguing that the return on that investment will be significant.

Like many of the crises the nation faced in 2020 and 2021, the horrific U.S. Capitol breach in January offered many lessons on crisis planning from which business leaders can learn. David Ball was quoted in a January Forbes article exploring the crisis management lessons from the Capitol siege.

In an O’Dwyer’s PR guest column, David Ball shared five takeaways from Jen Psaki’s first briefing as White House press secretary on January 20, 2021. As a former government press secretary himself, David analyzed Psaki’s skills and commented on her ability to earn the trust of the reporters in the room, thereby establishing credibility.  

The COVID-19 pandemic made starting a new job in March of 2020 a lot more complicated than one would hope. But perseverance is worthy of promotion. After spending the spring and summer months working from home and a full year since joining Ball Consulting Group, we’re excited to share that Alex Villanueva has been promoted to Account Manager.