Dear Friends of Read Alliance,
 
Central to Read Alliance’s mission and model is the belief in, and reliance on, effective leadership development in young people. At READ, fostering leadership starts with celebrating empathetic connections between teens and young children, and reinforces the belief that all young people deserve an equal opportunity to thrive. The Read Alliance family creates safe and educational communities which center the voices of youth and lift up the idea that we are stronger together.
 
Now in a new year, Read Alliance reaffirms its commitment to advance equity, promote understanding, and level the playing field for all children and young people. We stand with our communities and remain committed to the pursuit of equity and opportunity for all.
 
In solidarity,

 


Danielle Guindo
Executive Director
At Read Alliance, our one-to-one virtual programming continues to successfully combat learning loss and advance students' foundational reading skills through exactly the method many experts describe as an avenue to success: near-peer tutoring.  On December 28, National Public Radio reported a story entitled "Schools Face A Massive Challenge To Make Up For Learning Lost During The Pandemic," in which former Education Secretary John B. King Jr. advocated for a national tutoring corps, potentially comprised of older students being paid to tutor younger students. "We have decades of research showing that high intensity tutoring can help students make up lost ground academically very quickly," noted King.
 
Across New York City, Read Alliance teen leaders, earning minimum wage in an important and meaningful job, use a proven phonics-based curriculum to foster literacy gains among early elementary students in communities most impacted by the academic interruption caused by the pandemic. This critical work would not be possible without the partnership of our supporters, and for that we thank you.
Associate Board Member Kimberly Pennington, Executive Assistant to the Market President for New York at KeyBank, joined the Read Alliance Associate Board in October and wasted no time organizing a series of five Teen Leader Development workshops over a period of three months, on topics ranging from Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to the importance of self-care.
 
"We had a very diverse group of students and I could really appreciate the amount of respect everyone showed one another. It created a safe space where we could have impactful and open discussions that are not always easy to have."

"I will never forget one week, when there was a teen leader who looked to be commuting home from in-person school. This teen leader took the entire workshop standing on the public bus on the way home, one hand on the handlebar, the other holding a phone, determined not to miss that workshop."
 
Lisa Killingsworth, Read Alliance's Senior Program Manager:

"More Than Enough by Elaine Welteroth is an incredible memoir about Elaine’s journey to becoming the first black/bi-racial editor at Teen Vogue. I loved her determination to manifest her dreams and to advocate for minorities to have real representation and voices in the magazine and fashion worlds. She also just recently interviewed former President Barack Obama!"
Elisabet C., Teen Leader:

"I recommend How to Breathe: 25 Simple Practices for Calm, Joy and Resilience, which talks about different ways to meditate and be in tune with nature and spirituality."
Read Alliance is a 501c(3) non-profit and donations are fully tax-deductible. Tax-ID 13-4091062