Our team includes a diverse group of individuals who come from all walks of life: song writers, producers, singers, musicians, an attorney, a real estate broker, a health care professional, engineers, students, a playwright, a fundraising professional, graphic designers, and, most importantly, those struggling with addiction, who give us insight and guidance. The team at the Let’s Give It Up Foundation combines many unique skill sets to reach one common goal: make a positive and direct difference in the lives of those suffering from substance use disorder through music, the arts, acceptance and shared community.
Pat Saint James, Esquire
Founder and President,
Let's Give It Up Foundation
Danielle Cook
Board Member
Susan Piracini
Founding Board Member
Foundation Secretary
Real Estate Advisor, Compass
Ed Harper
Founding Board Member
Foundation Treasurer
Product Manager, Avid Technology
Joey MHz
Board Member
Director
Bob Patton
Professor, Berklee College of Music
Music Producer
Patricia Saint James
President and Board Member of the Let’s Give It Up Foundation, Pat is a partner at the law firm of Tarlow Breed Hart & Rogers, where she chairs the Family Law Department. A past chair of the Family Law Section of the Boston Bar Association and a past President of the Massachusetts Family and Probate American Inn of Court, she has worked extensively with the Massachusetts Legislature, the Courts, and the Massachusetts Department of Revenue to shape legislation, train other lawyers, and enhance the practice of family law in the Commonwealth. Pat currently serves as a commissioner on the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct. Pat is a composer and producer. She has worked with the late producer George Duke and with numerous recording artists, such as Philip Bailey of Earth Wind and Fire, Sheila E., Jeffrey Osborne, Rebecca Parrish, the Disney Kids, Boney James, Dominic Marte, and Renese King who have recorded her music. She wrote The Serenity Song that has been performed in the off-Broadway play Recovery and used in the Massachusetts Drug Courts. This song led to the creation of the Let’s Give It Up Foundation.
Ed Harper
Board Member and Treasurer of the Let’s Give It Up Foundation, Ed works at Avid Technology designing and delivering products that enable media and entertainment companies to create music, movies, and TV.
He was drawn to the Let's Give It Up Foundation to help young people struggling with substance abuse and issues of self-worth. The foundation gives people an innovative creative outlet to come to terms with their own story and focus on their personal growth and recovery.
Susan Piracini
Susan Piracini serves on the board of directors of the Let’s Give It Up foundation. She has been a respected name in the Boston real estate market for over 25 years, helping many people find their way home. After watching many friends lose family members to the disease of addiction, and experiencing the effects of addiction in her own family, she vowed to find a way to give back. After researching various avenues, she decided the Let’s Give It Up foundation resonated with her personal beliefs around helping addicts in their journey to become healthy and happy. Her personal goal for the foundation is to help as many people as possible to turn their life around through art and music and to help them regain their sense of purpose, creativity, and self-confidence.
Danielle Cook
Danielle Cook is the newest member of The Let’s Give It Up Foundation and, in many ways, she embodies the heart and soul of this wonderful initiative to help those struggling with substance abuse find purpose and joy through music.
Danielle has walked the walk. She has survived the tragedies of losing her big brother and two sisters, and she has overcome her own battle with drug dependency. Today, with the support and love of her immediate family and her new family here, Danielle is putting all her energy into helping the Foundation add invaluable insight into the design of programs that speak the language of the street.
Bob Patton
Bob began teaching at Berklee in 1973. He has taught classes in improvisation, ear training, saxophone, ensembles, ACI (artistry, creativity, and inquiry), computer literacy, MTEC (music technology), and studio music production techniques. Bob is a recipient of the Berklee Performance Division’s Award for his animated/interactive ear training website using state-of-the art visual presentation and automatic grading. The techniques Bob developed as part of this site are now used in countless websites worldwide.
Over his extensive playing career, Bob has performed and/or toured with Aretha Franklin, Artie Shaw, Sammy Davis, Jr., The Four Tops, The Temptations, Hall and Oates, Cab Calloway, Frank Sinatra Jr., Bette Midler, and Lou Rawls, to name a few. Bob has played events for our country’s leaders, including Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., Barack Obama, George H.W. Bush, and Tip O’Neill.
As a studio musician, Bob has appeared on numerous recordings playing sax, flute, and clarinet at Philadelphia International Records, The Power Station (NY), Soundtrack (NY/Boston), PBS, Blue Jay Studios and more. Bob is the owner of Thin Ice Productions. He has engineered, written, and produced soundtracks for Blue Cross, Computer Vision, Sikorsky, Bose, Reebok, PBS and for many renowned artists, such as Livingston Taylor, Lionel Loueuke, John Tchicai, and Paquito Rivera.
Bob has designed and maintained websites for several artists. As a system designer and installer, Bob worked for PVS (Professional Video Services) and PRS (Professional Audio Services) of Boston - designing, maintaining and upgrading TV, radio, and recording studios.
In 2016, Bob recorded and co-produced with composer, John Finbury, “A Charma Verde” which was nominated for “Song of the Year” at the Latin Grammys.
Bob brings his wealth of knowledge and experience as a musician, producer, performer, recording engineer and teacher to the Let’s Give It Up Foundation. He is dedicated to furthering the mission of the Foundation to make a positive and direct difference in the lives of those suffering from addiction through music and the arts.