About Us

Rising Social Strategies (RSS) is a consulting firm dedicated to supporting governmental agencies, nonprofits, and community organizations in developing effective and integrated systems of care for children, youth, and families. Our team brings extensive expertise in program design, fiscal strategy, and cross-system collaboration, providing tailored solutions to meet the unique needs of our clients.

RSS offers a broad range of consulting services aimed at fostering sustainable, trauma-informed systems of care:

  • Program Development: Designing and implementing services along a continuum of care to address the diverse needs of children, youth, and families.

  • Fiscal and Funding Strategies: Supporting funding applications, rate and allocation requests, program budgeting, and cost modeling to ensure financial sustainability.

  • Operational Support: Guiding licensing, contracting, compliance, and operational planning to streamline program implementation.

  • Interdepartmental Collaboration: Facilitating collaboration across child welfare, behavioral health, education, and other systems to build integrated care approaches.

  • Strategic Planning and Facilitation: Providing stakeholder engagement, consensus-building, and strategic guidance to advance systems change and program success.

  • Executive Coaching and Administrative Support: Offering coaching for nonprofit leaders to enhance organizational effectiveness and providing interim administrative support to strengthen operations during transitions.

Our Leadership

RSS was founded by Ken Berrick, who brings decades of experience in behavioral health, child welfare, education, developmental, and juvenile justice systems. During his time as the CEO of Seneca Family of Agencies (a nonprofit agency he founded in 1985), Ken worked extensively with state and local stakeholders to address the needs of youth and families and develop sustainable systems of care.

Ken’s work included leading the High Needs Youth Summit, which helped inform California’s efforts to create a comprehensive continuum of care through collaborative systems design. While this work was foundational to RSS’s approach, it also reflects the broader values we uphold: partnership, practicality, and a commitment to creating lasting impact.

Our Approach

At RSS, we take a collaborative approach to our work. We understand that no two systems or communities are the same, and we tailor our support to meet the specific goals and challenges of our clients. Whether helping to address complex programmatic needs, navigate funding opportunities, or building stronger interdepartmental collaboration, RSS focuses on solutions that are both effective and sustainable.

Contact us to learn more about RSS’s work and opportunities for partnership.

RSS partners with a broad network of consultants who have expertise in a variety of specialty areas.

Meet the Core Team :

  • Ken Berrick founded Rising Social Strategies in 2022 to share his experience and insights with organizations and entities striving to improve outcomes for children and families. As Director, Ken collaborates with his team to offer strategic guidance, innovative solutions, and creative problem-solving aimed at building comprehensive, integrated, and sustainable systems of care. He also provides thoughtful executive coaching to emerging nonprofit leaders, helping to strengthen their impact.

    Ken is perhaps best known as the founder of Seneca Family of Agencies, a nonprofit committed to the principle of Unconditional Care, ensuring children and families receive the support they need regardless of the complexity of their circumstances. Since its establishment in 1985, Seneca has been at the forefront of creating programs such as Wraparound, Intensive Treatment Foster Care, school-based mental health services, and a crisis continuum of care for youth and families.

    In 2021, Ken’s dedication to individualized support led to the creation of Just Advocates, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that focuses on advocating for children and families while contributing to meaningful policy change at all levels of government.

    Throughout his career, Ken has sought opportunities to contribute to broader system improvements. He has served as a Governor’s Appointee to California’s Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC) and the California Child Welfare Council and has been involved in key initiatives like California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM). Ken has also served as President of the California Alliance of Child and Family Services and held leadership roles on various state and county-level policy planning groups. In addition, he has been an elected member and Past-President of both the Alameda County Board of Education and the California County Boards of Education, where he focused on ensuring equitable access to education and resources for all students.

    Ken’s work has been recognized over the years, including receiving the Advocate of the Year award from California Mental Health Advocates for Children and Youth (2014), the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award (2017), and both the Jefferson Bronze Award (2021) and Jefferson Silver Award (2022). These honors reflect not just his efforts but also the dedication of the many teams and communities with whom he has had the privilege to work.

    Ken has co-authored three books aimed at sharing practices that foster strong, inclusive systems of care: Unconditional Care: Relationship-Based, Behavioral Intervention with Vulnerable Children and Families (Oxford University Press, 2010), Unconditional Education: Supporting Schools to Serve All Students (Oxford University Press, 2019), and Unconditional Care in Context: Engaging with Ecological Adversity (Oxford University Press, 2022). He views these works as opportunities to contribute to collective learning and collaboration across the field.

    Email Ken here at ken@risingsocial.com

  • Jill Mason is a social worker with over 25 years of experience as a nonprofit leader serving children and families. Most recently, she served as the Project Director of a nationwide initiative to connect children and parents who were impacted by the government’s “Zero Tolerance Policy” to trauma-informed behavioral health services. In her management of this $14.5 million program, she successfully oversaw ongoing operations of the program’s national hotline and outreach efforts to effectively locate, engage, and serve families forcibly separated at the border. Jill collaborated with immigration law and social service organizations across the nation, oversaw the development of a national network of more than 330 multilingual and multicultural mental health providers, and created systems for managing the network of providers, thereby enabling quick and effective referrals for families to access trauma-informed, culturally competent behavioral health services in their communities.

    Jill holds both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in social work and has been a licensed clinical social worker for over 17 years. She joined Seneca Family of Agencies in 1999, where she worked for 23 years, including 20 years as a Program Manager and Regional Executive Director. Jill served as Executive Director for Seneca’s statewide community-based services, managing a budget of $36 million and over 500 employees. She was Regional Executive Director over Southern California programs and statewide Division Director over residential and crisis services. Jill was responsible for launching Seneca’s Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Programs (STRTPs), including licensure of the first-ever STRTP in California. Prior to her time at Seneca, Jill acquired experience in medical social work, health education, and substance abuse counseling. She is skilled in the areas of agency leadership, clinical service delivery, personnel management, program development, fiscal oversight, quality assurance, and building stakeholder relationships. She volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate and served as a member of the state of Arizona’s Foster Care Review Board.

    Email Jill here at Jill@risingsocial.com

  • Alicia Hooton is a licensed clinical social worker with over 16 years of experience as a nonprofit leader serving children and families. She joined Seneca Family of Agencies in 2008, where she provided leadership to Community Treatment Facility, Wraparound, Therapeutic Behavioral Service, Mobile Response, Crisis Stabilization, Partial Hospitalization, and Crisis Residential programs. As the Executive Director of Crisis Services at Seneca, Alicia designed and opened Seneca’s first Partial Hospital Programs as well as the first ever Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program in California. She has overseen budgets of over $30 million and contracts across multiple counties in California with Child Welfare, Behavioral Health, and Probation partners. Her work has focused on program design, implementation, and management for multiple start-ups that serve youth in crisis and their families across California with an eye toward integrated services across a continuum of care. She is also experienced in leadership development and coaching in nonprofit settings. Alicia has also served as a field liaison and member of adjunct faculty at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work since 2020. Alicia received her Bachelor’s degree from Whitworth University in Washington State, and holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Southern California.

    Email Alicia here at Alicia@risingsocial.com

  • Megan Salazar (she/her) is a Consulting Associate with Rising Social Strategies (RSS), specializing in project management and operations support, including Executive Assistant coaching. Megan also manages RSS’s administrative infrastructure, including contract and project oversight.

    In addition to her role at RSS, Megan serves as the Director of Operations at a 501(c)3 nonprofit agency, Just Advocates, where she oversees all aspects of the agency’s infrastructure, including finance, human resources, fundraising, and communications, while engaging directly in systems advocacy and support for families. Prior to her current roles, Megan was the Executive Assistant to the CEO and COO of Seneca Family of Agencies, where she facilitated coordination across Seneca’s 150+ programs in California and Washington State.

    Megan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Arizona State University and a Masters of Science in Human Services from Northeastern University. Megan is passionate about creating systems of care that reflect the core values of RSS: efficacy, partnership, and lasting impact.

    Email Megan here at Megan@risingsocial.com

  • Janet Briggs began her endeavor in finance by achieving her bachelor’s degree in Business Economics with an Accounting Emphasis from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Janet began her career in Public Accounting, working across various industries and gaining extensive experience in accounting and business management as a CPA. She later specialized in providing audit and accounting services for nonprofit social service agencies. Her in-depth understanding of accounting issues and regulations unique to nonprofit agencies has distinguished Janet as a leader and trusted expert in the field.

    In 2002, Janet joined Seneca Family of Agencies as the Director of Finance and then moved into the role of Chief Financial Officer, where she supervised and trained an ever-growing accounting staff on policies and procedures for a wide array of child-serving programs in child welfare, behavioral health, juvenile justice, residential, outpatient, community-based, and educational settings. Janet excelled at overseeing and monitoring numerous state and county contracts and managed the fiscal operations of over 100 programs across 15 counties in California and Washington.

    Since leaving Seneca in 2023, Janet has provided consulting services to various nonprofit agencies throughout California. Her work includes accounting support in areas such as program budget development, contract support, audit support, month end close assistance, interim CFO roles, coaching, and more. Janet remains dedicated to fostering effective communication across departments and agencies and ensuring the financial integrity of the organizations she supports.

  • Elizabeth Atkins (she/her) is a Consulting Associate with Rising Social Strategies (RSS), specializing in project management and administrative operations support. Before joining RSS, Elizabeth served as the Executive Assistant to the CEO at Seneca Family of Agencies for three years.

    Prior to focusing on her career in administrative and operations support, Elizabeth worked as a behavior technician, providing one-on-one, evidence-based interventions to help clients thrive. Her diverse career path also includes experience as a legal assistant, where she honed her organizational and administrative skills.

    Elizabeth holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from UC Santa Barbara and a master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from National University. Her unique blend of expertise in both administrative roles and direct care positions equips her with a compassionate, family-centered approach to her work. Elizabeth is passionate about making a meaningful difference in the lives of individuals and families.

    Email Elizabeth here at elizabeth@risingsocial.com