Roberlyne “Ruby” Pezanetti (Cherfils)

Chief Operating Officer

Roberlyne “Ruby” Pezanetti joined the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) bringing extensive leadership and operational experience from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Mrs. Pezanetti brings a diverse background within the healthcare, regulatory, and insurance industries. She is a seasoned leader with specialties in strategy, transformation, regulatory environments, operations, compliance, and scalable, sustainable programs and services, all with a focus on health equity.  Mrs. Pezanetti’s greatest strength is the ability to balance vision, strategy, and execution. She enjoys the challenges of transitioning from creative vision to operational implementation and excellence.

Mrs. Pezanetti was recognized as an Outstanding Woman in Business by the Worcester Business Journal in 2025 for her many growth initiatives that expand access to care. A lifelong learner, Mrs. Pezanetti brings a renewed focus on delivering innovative, compliant management for the diverse mind. Mrs. Pezanetti always thrives on how to engage stakeholders, leverage capacity, resources, and experience to realize business needs in an ever-complex, changing, and regulated healthcare environment in a community setting. Leveraging her Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma, she is a champion of change, applying lean methodology to drive continuous improvement.

Before joining Kennedy Community Health, Mrs. Pezanetti served as COO and CEO of Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children, one of the four public safety-net hospitals in the Public Health Hospital System within the Department of Public Health (DPH). There, she led the stellar management of a global pandemic, ensuring the health and safety of patients and staff. She also served as the Executive Director of Multi-Boards in the Bureau of Health Professions Licensure from 2016 – 2020, where she led the administration of seven health profession registration Boards under the strategic vision of protecting the health and safety of the people of the Commonwealth through policy creation and implementation, licensing, and enforcement. Her hands-on experience in operationalizing legislation offered insight into the realities of pivoting from theory to practice, common challenges, and leveraging stakeholders and advocates.

Prior to joining the Commonwealth, she’s held leadership positions with DentaQuest as Regional Director of Client Engagement for the Northeast markets; Liberty Mutual as Director of Operations for Awards and Recognition for Personal Markets; Nationwide Insurance in several roles countrywide as Manager of Process Management, Compliance Manager, and Manager of Sales Operations for the Mid-Atlantic region; and Travelers Insurance as an Agency Portfolio Manager in the New England markets.

Mrs. Pezanetti is passionate about supporting and promoting community service to disenfranchised and underserved populations. Giving back to her community is the cornerstone of her personal values. She supports and volunteers with nonprofit organizations serving in various capacities on several committees of the National Association of Community Health Center, the Mass League of Community Health Centers, Caritas Communities, YMCA of Central Massachusetts, the Commonwealth Purchasing Group, The Collective Energy Advisory Group, and is a member of the American College of Health Care Executives and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Mrs. Pezanetti holds a Master of Arts in Public Administration from Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Virginia State University. She currently lives in Marlborough, MA.