Rick is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Torch, based in New York City, the first nonpartisan social media intelligence platform customized for the U.S. civic sector, including advocacy groups, grant-making foundations, corporate social responsibility teams, and elected officials. Previously, Rick founded and served as President of Amplify, a benefit corporation based in Newark, New Jersey that designed and managed advocacy and government affairs campaigns for grant-making foundations and their grantees. 

Prior to founding Torch and Amplify, Rick’s pioneering work at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice won national recognition. Rick was also President of The Fund for New Jersey, the state’s leading foundation investor in advocacy and policy reform, where he oversaw a $60 million grant-making endowment. 

Rick received a B.A. in American Studies from Cornell University and a M.P.A. in U.S. Social Policy and Nonprofit Management from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), where he is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor teaching about social justice movements in the age of social media.