Holly Grant serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross of Massachusetts. She leads a team of staff and more than 3,000 active volunteers who carry out the humanitarian mission of assisting those affected by disaster; supporting active-duty military, their families and veterans through times of crisis; reconnecting families domestically and overseas; and providing a range of food and nutrition services at one of New England’s largest food pantries. Holly brings thirty years’ experience in nonprofit leadership, business operations, policy and development. She can be reached at: Holly.Grant@redcross.org.
Barbara leads our Southeastern Massachusetts Chapter that serves a population of more than 1.3 million people in Barnstable, Duke, Nantucket, Plymouth and Bristol counties.
Before joining the Red Cross, Barbara has served in leadership roles at the Cape Cod Children’s Museum, Big Brothers Big Sisters and most recently the Cape Cod Military Support Foundation. She brings over 15+ years of leadership, fundraising, development and special events experience to the role as Executive Director. An enthusiastic community advocate, Barbara serves on several local committees, attends and supports community and chamber events and serves on the Board of Directors for Philanthropy Partners of Cape Cod and the Islands. A double Eagle graduate of Boston College, Barbara lives on Cape Cod year-round with her husband, their three children and their adorable new puppy, Charlie.
Kyle McWilliam-Lopez leads the Northeast Massachusetts Chapter, serving a population of more than 1.2 million people in Essex and Middlesex counties.
Kyle joined the Red Cross in 2018 as a Community Recovery Specialist in Florida for the Hurricane Irma Long Term Recovery Program. Prior to the Red Cross, Kyle worked in business development helping bring clean solar energy to households and managing a tech ecosystem network and workforce development initiative with a regional economic development non-profit in Monterey, California.
Kyle grew up in Santa Rosa, California and comes from a military family, which helped spur his decision to work for AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps in Bolivia. He has a master’s degree in International Policy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Kyle is married with two children and is an avid golfer.
Nia Rennix brings more than 10 years of experience in the nonprofit industry to her role as Executive Director of the Central-Western Massachusetts chapter of the American Red Cross. Before joining the Red Cross, she served as the Director of the Emergency Pantry and Food Programs at Open Pantry Community Services in Springfield. Nia brings extensive experience building partnerships, creating teams, fundraising, and managing operations. She has worked in the food insecurity space for many years focused on food insecurity and public health as they relate to economic and social development.
Nia has a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Political Science from Western New England University, a Bachelor’s of Science in Clinical Nutrition from New York University/Saint Joseph College, and a Master’s degree in Political Science/Health Care Policy from Miami University. She lives in Springfield.
Ashley Svevar joined the Red Cross in October of 2020. After a successful career in retail, Ashley decided to pursue a career in nonprofit as the mission was something she was missing in the retail and for-profit space. Ashley began her Red Cross career as the Director of Development and was promoted to Chief Development Officer in December 2021. Ashley has a passion for the numbers and building plans. Ashley leads a team of passionate and talented fundraisers. Ashley resides in Charlestown, MA with her husband Mark and daughter Vivienne. She loves her life in Boston and wants to get back to international travel which brings her joy and adventure.
Ryan Avery serves as our Regional Disaster Officer, responsible for ensuring disaster preparedness, response and recovery services are at the ready 24/7/365 to serve the citizens of Massachusetts, as well as offer mutual-aid support across the nation during large-scale disasters. Through the work of nearly 1,000 Disaster Responders, we provide community and youth disaster education, visit homes to install smoke alarms and educate residents on home fire prevention, provide comfort and resources after single- and multi-family fires, open disaster shelters, provide health, mental health and spiritual care support, and help families recover after disasters.
Ryan Avery began his Red Cross journey in 2010 as a Disaster Cycle Services Volunteer in Connecticut, then moved to Wisconsin to serve as a Disaster Program Manager and later Senior Disaster Program Manager. In 2018, Ryan joined the Massachusetts Region as the Senior Disaster Program Manager, and begin his role as the Regional Disaster Officer 2023. He has served in leadership roles on numerous national disaster relief operations including Hurricanes Matthew, Irma, Maria, Laura, Ian, as well as the 2016 Alberta Wildfires response with the Canadian Red Cross, and our 2021 Afghan Repatriation support. He and his partner live in Amherst and enjoy exploring New England.
As the Regional Volunteer Service Officer, Raven Camara is responsible for recruitment, engagement, development and support of more than 3,000 Red Cross adult and youth volunteers across Massachusetts.
Raven joined the Red Cross in 2014 and has grown steadily to a leadership position in the Volunteer Services realm. Raven played a key role in two national recruitment pilot programs which tested new models of collaboration between Humanitarian Services and Biomedical Services as part of the One Red Cross initiative. Raven led creative problem solving, while fostering open dialogue and inclusivity, to ensure successful collaboration.
Philip Gonzalez serves as the Massachusetts Regional Service to the Armed Forces/International Services Director. He oversees more than 100 SAF volunteers at VA facilities, Military Entrance Processing Stations and other military installations.
Phil is a military veteran, having served eight years in the United States Army National Guard from 2007-2015, and is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Over the past five years, Phil has worked at Veterans, Inc and has experience ranging from providing treatment services to Veterans with substance use disorders, to program management and data analysis. Prior to this, Phil served as an Operations Manager at FedEx Ground for two years. In 2022, Phil was recognized for his outstanding work with clients and received the 2022 Excellent in Program Leadership Award from the Association for Behavioral Health.
Phil received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Clark University: a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Public Administration with a concentration on leadership, nonprofit management and public health.
Starting with babysitting courses at age 12, followed by lifeguarding classes, then CPR trainings and regular blood donations into adulthood, the Red Cross has long been a part of Kelly Isenor’s life.
Since joining the Red Cross as communications manager in 2017, Kelly has led media relations and communications for both the legacy Massachusetts and legacy Connecticut/Rhode Island blood services regions. Prior to joining the Red Cross, Kelly worked as a news producer for CBS Boston and contributed to the station’s prestigious George Foster Peabody award for coverage of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and 2012 DuPont Award for coverage of the Sandy Hook tragedy. Kelly was proud to be selected as a Fellow for RTDNA’s journalist exchange program with RIAS Berlin.
