Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts Welcomes New Senior Program Officer Brian Byrd
Byrd brings nearly two decades of experience in health care and grantmaking. Before joining FORE, he managed the New York State Health Foundation’s Special Projects Fund, a $3 million grantmaking program that supports innovative projects addressing public health and community health needs. Before that, Byrd served as director for community partnerships for CARE, an international humanitarian organization, where he was responsible for building strategic partnerships with policymakers as well as business and nonprofit leaders. Byrd also served as deputy director for membership affairs at the Council on Foreign Relations; as an assistant director with the Rockefeller Foundation, where he spearheaded an HIV/AIDS project in Southern Africa; and as a senior government relations advisor for a law firm, where he worked on public health policies in New York.
In 2021, he was appointed to the Community Advisory Group (CAG) of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. CAG’s goal is to present views and perspectives on key economic and financial issues affecting individuals, households, and communities within the Second Federal Reserve District. He also serves on the board of directors for the New York Funders Alliance, a statewide association of foundations and philanthropic advisors. He is also a member of the Overseas Press Club of America.
Brian holds a B.S. in human ecology and public policy from Rutgers University and an M.P.A. from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service.