Our Team

Nancy Kerr co-founded The Children’s Reading Foundation and served as president from 1996 through 2015. She is the lead author of the foundation’s nationally respected, research-based school readiness program, READY! for Kindergarten.

Nancy worked with school districts and communities nationwide to ensure children learn to read early and well. In this role she has earned state and national recognition, including the U.S. Department of Education’s America Reads Challenge Recognition, an invitation to the White House Conference on Literacy, and a 1998 Washington State Literacy Award from the International Reading Association.

She was one of 20 national leaders serving as advisors to the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, a 10-year effort of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Nancy is a former high school teacher and has served on numerous state and regional boards that support families and children.

She has a Bachelor of Science in Family Sciences from Brigham Young University and Master of Educational Leadership from Washington State University.

Nancy loves to play with her grandsons, travel worldwide, enjoys water sports, and art galleries, and, of course, reads at least 20 minutes a day. She and her husband raised their four children in Kennewick, Washington.

Bailey Weiss is a senior vice president, executive producer at McCann New York. He has worked in television production for New York advertising agencies for more than 30 years.

He began his film career as a foot messenger making his way around Manhattan delivering negatives and picking up prints. He has produced simple commercials to incredibly complex, multi-million dollar, global productions overseeing vast crews of internationally renowned and Academy Awarding winning technicians and directors.

His love of people and appreciation for the creative mindset, tempered by the responsibility of business, has always guided his natural instincts of diplomacy and respect.

He attributes his interest in literacy to his wife, Regina, who was a reading teacher. He and his daughters, Andrea and Erica, became involved with The Children’s Reading Foundation by establishing a memorial fund to honor Regina and her dedication to children and literacy. Bailey is honored to keep Regina’s legacy alive through his work with the foundation.

Rufus is the Executive Director of the Hope Center/One Parent Scholar House in Lexington, Kentucky. The organization provides care for homeless and at-risk persons by providing life-sustaining and life-rebuilding services that are comprehensive and address underlying causes.

He previously served as president and publisher of The Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com news media organization from 2011 to 2018 and president and publisher of the Tri-City Herald in Kennewick WA from 2005-2011. Friday had been in the news business for more than 30 years, including 15 years with the McClatchy publishing company.

His local community service in Kentucky includes serving as a board of directors for the Muhammad Ali Center, Kentucky Historical Society Foundation, board of regent for the University of the Cumberlands, the advisory council for the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, and the University of Kentucky Communication and Information Dean’s advisory council.

Rufus serves on national boards for Stars and Stripes Newspapers, Southern Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation, and the Children’s Reading Foundation.

Friday is a North Carolina native and graduate from North Carolina State University.

Rufus’ ultimate vision and goal is to ensure that every single client that  comes at the Hope Center and One Parent Scholar House has a means to achieve self-sufficiency and a happier, productive life.

Janice Fox, Ed.D. is a founding member of The Children's Reading Foundation of the Upper Cumberland, Tennessee, established in 2013.

She currently serves as Middle Tennessee Grand Region Director of the Center of Regional Excellence (CORE), a division of the Tennessee Department of Education. 

Janice is a third-generation educator with 28 years of experience working in Tennessee public schools.  She began her career in rural Tennessee teaching early elementary grades focused on reading, and has experience as a middle school teacher, district level federal programs director, director of instruction K-12, and adjunct professor in educational leadership.

Janice holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Tennessee Technological University.  She earned a Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; an Educational Specialist degree in Administration and Leadership from Lincoln Memorial University; and Doctor of Education degree from Tennessee State University.

Her core belief is that all students can learn at high levels when parents, community members, and educators provide the opportunities they deserve allowing students to reach their full potential.  Janice enjoys dedicating her personal time to supporting the Children’s Reading Foundation and sharing a love of learning.

Cheryl Dell recently retired after spending more than 30 years in the newspaper industry. She spent the last 20 years with The McClatchy Company, serving as publisher for the Tri-City Herald in Kennewick, Washington, The News Tribune in Tacoma, Washington, and the Sacramento Bee in Sacramento, California. Under her leadership, those three papers won more than 2,000 awards for circulation, advertising and news, receiving recognition in every major journalism contest including The Pulitzer Prize.

Throughout her career, Cheryl has given back to the community through the pages of the newspapers she published and with volunteer hours. She served on the board of directors for dozens of nonprofit organizations including several United Way organizations, economic development groups, MLK 365 (an organization devoted to furthering the dreams of Martin Luther King), The Sacramento Tree Foundation, and the Washington State Historical Society. She also served as chairman of the board and on the executive committee of the Inland Press Association. The association is one of the largest newspaper membership organizations, serving more than 1,000-member newspapers in the United States.

Cheryl has two degrees from Sacramento State, a Bachelor of Communications and a Doctorate of Humane Letters. She also holds a Doctorate from Drexel University.

She lives in Nevada City, California.

Sally Kim is a San Francisco-based book publishing and marketing consultant with corporate and nonprofit clients across the U.S., France, and Australia. She is also the publishing director for Twirl Books for young children. Prior to consulting, Sally held various integrated marketing positions at Callisto Media, Chronicle Books, Penguin Young Readers Group, and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. Throughout her publishing career, she has worked with many diversely talented authors, illustrators, and brands to launch award-winning and bestselling books to readers of all ages. In her free time, Sally volunteers as a juror for the California Book Awards and a committee member for Great Group Reads. Sally holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Princeton University.

Frank Armijo is a retired executive with the Lockheed Martin corporation. Frank’s experience includes leading several lines of businesses for DoD, Civil, International and Commercial clients. Mr. Armijo leadership includes Federal, Commercial, and International operations including President and General Manager of Mission Support Alliance, a Lockheed Martin joint venture, Chairman of MSA Board of Directors, Vice President of Energy Solutions and Vice President of Strategy and Business Development. Frank is principle with The Armijo Group. 

Mr. Armijo has served on several non-profit boards including the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) Board, Columbia Basin College Board of Trustees and co-founded the Hispanic Academic Achievers Program, which has provided over $2 million in scholarships to students pursuing a higher education. He served on the Washington Learns board chaired by Governor Christine Gregoire and the Washington Technology Center Board appointed by Governor Gary Locke. Frank is passionate about encouraging youth to pursue higher education, particularly in STEM-related fields, and was named as one of the Top 100 Corporate STEM leaders in 2014.

Mr. Armijo graduated from Eastern Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management Information Systems and a minor in Communications. He also graduated from Columbia Basin College with an Associates of Arts degree and an Applied Science in Computer Science. During his career, Mr. Armijo has completed executive courses at MIT Sloan School of Management and Stanford University and is a Project Management Professional (PMP).  Mr. Armijo is a Paul Harris Fellow and splits his time between the Tri-Cities, Washington, and the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro area.