After Decades Of Service, Waltham Nonprofit Names Its First COO

WALTHAM, MA — A statewide advocacy group founded 71 years ago and based in Waltham, the Arc of Massachusetts, has hired a chief operating officer for the first time.

Audrey Folk is now COO of the nonprofit, which assists people with intellectual and developmental disabilities such as autism.

In the newly created role, she will oversee the group’s operations and work to strengthen relationships with its 17 chapters in Massachusetts, according to a news release.

Falk brings decades of higher education and nonprofit experience to the job.

For the past 15 years, she served as program director for Merrimack College master’s degree program in nonprofit management and community engagement. She previously worked as executive director of the Columbia Point Community Partnership in Dorchester, a collaborative with the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Her career also includes five years at Lifeworks in Westwood (then known as the Arc of South Norfolk), where Falk was the founding director of the Family Autism Center.

She has a doctorate in education from Boston University, where she also earned two bachelor’s degrees. In addition, Falk holds a master’s degree from Harvard University.

She serves as co-chair of the Parent and Community Education and Involvement Advisory Council of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

“Audrey’s career has long reflected a commitment to building inclusive communities,” said Maura Sullivan, CEO of the Arc of Massachusetts. “We are excited to welcome her to this role.”

The Arc of Massachusetts began in 1955, a few years after its national, parent organization was founded and held a convention in Boston. That group – then known as the Association for Retarded Children – worked to create classrooms, summer camps and other help for intellectually disabled children at a time when such services did not exist.