Participant Media’s Former Head of Advocacy and Social Impact to Lead Social Impact Unit ‘RiseUp’ 

FUSION today announced that Chad Boettcher has been named Senior Vice President of Social Impact and Managing Director of ‘Rise Up’, the media network’s dedicated social impact unit. ‘RiseUp’ will collaborate with and live across Univision News, Univision Digital, and The Root as well as extend through outside partners. Chad will lead the development and execution of social impact strategy and campaigns across all platforms–TV, digital, OTT, social–focusing on using storytelling and technology to mobilize an increasingly diverse generation of young people to create positive social change in the world. ‘RiseUp’ will get engaged immediately in the 2016 presidential election with an initiative to bolster voter registration among young, diverse communities.   

“We know that compelling storytelling around issues that matter has the power to move individuals to action, said FUSION CEO Isaac Lee. “As we look to engage and energize a diverse generation that is hungry to move the world forward in ways big and small, we are thrilled to have someone with Chad’s passion and vision leading our social impact efforts.”  

“I am excited to have the opportunity to work across a diverse portfolio of platforms to share inspiring stories that drive positive social change and engagement on the issues that matter to the country’s increasingly multicultural population,” said Boettcher.  

The ‘Rise Up’ team will build upon the success of many social change initiatives launched by FUSION and Univision, including ‘RiseUp: It’s Your World,’ a summit FUSION held in Washington DC that gathered an unprecedented group of leading global activists, artists, technologists and political leaders to explore how to transform the rising tides of protest into a positive wave of social progress. The daylong event in partnership with the Unicef, the United Nations Foundation, and the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community, among others, was attended by notable influencers such as Egyptian activist Wael Ghonim, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power.   

Boettcher was most recently the executive vice president of advocacy and social impact at Participant Media, the global entertainment company devoted to feature film, television, publishing and digital content that inspires social change. Boettcher was responsible for leading the creation, development and execution of strategies that leverage Participant’s content and investments across all its lines of business for social impact. Participant Media is expected to be among the first companies to collaborate with ‘RiseUp.’  

Prior to joining Participant in November 2011, Boettcher taught marketing innovation at NYU and held senior positions focused on social change at Nike, Weber Shandwick and MTV – where he helped the network win multiple Emmy Awards for its public affairs campaigns. Additionally, he worked for the presidential campaigns of both Al Gore in 2000 and Barack Obama in 2008.   Boettcher, who is currently on the board of directors for the Marguerite Casey Foundation and is a former board member for the Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), graduated from Miami University with a B.A. in Political Science, Spanish and Botany.