5

2016 Annual Report

It’s been an incredible year for The Children’s 

Reading Foundation. Our story is filled with dedi-

cated and passionate individuals who work tire-

lessly in communities across the U.S. and Canada 

to champion and enhance children’s early literacy 

and learning.
We are celebrating our 

20

th

 anniversary

 of serv-

ing families, schools, and communities in prepar-

ing children during their critical early learning years 

for success in school and beyond. Looking back at 

the lives touched by our programs and messages 

is incredibly humbling. We now see parents 

who benefited from our programs as babies and 

toddlers, reading daily with their children and 

attending READY! for Kindergarten workshops. 
We 

expanded in several states and added a 

new one

. The Children’s Reading Foundation 

network welcomed two new chapters in Tennes-

see, and 14 additional READY! for Kindergarten 

school readiness programs in nine states. We’re 

pleased to announce Plant a Seed…READ! as our 

first READY! for Kindergarten program in the state 

of Montana. 
Our first 

Read With a Child Week

 will be the 

centerpiece of the 20th anniversary year. During 

the week of September 18 – 24, reading events 

will be held nationwide. These gatherings will 

reinforce the importance of reading each day 

with children from birth through third grade to 

help build the skills required to thrive in school 

and life.
In 2017 and beyond, Read With a Child Week 

will be held the third week in September. During 

the week, families are encouraged to recommit to 

reading with children for at least 20 minutes every 

day to help nurture early learning and literacy. 
Dedicated to our vision that every child learns to 

read, we are preparing to launch a new website 

and app to expand resources to millions of fami-

lies and educators.

ReadingFoundation.org website: 

We’re 

finalizing work to bring the ReadingFoundation.

org website up to date and add more flexibil-

ity, features, and downloadable resources. In 

addition, the READY! for Kindergarten website 

will be merged with the ReadingFoundation.org 

website, creating a more streamlined and user-

friendly experience. 

READY! for Kindergarten app:

 In the fall of 

fiscal year 2017, our READY! for Kindergar-

ten app will be available to download from our 

website, as well as on the Apple App Store and 

on Google Play, in both English and Spanish. 

The app will contain books by Bruce Lansky and 

games for children ages 2 to 5 and parents to 

play together to promote school readiness. 
We are pleased to welcome Janice Fox, Ed.D., 

as a 

new board member

. Janice hails from 

Tennessee, where she serves as executive 

director of the Center of Regional Excellence for 

the Upper Cumberland, a division of the Tennes-

see Department of Education. Her commitment 

to children’s development and bringing together 

parents, community members, and educators to 

expand learning opportunities will serve both the 

foundation and our stakeholders well. 
This year, we formed partnerships with esteemed 

companies and organizations that share our 

vision and mission. Our initial 

Literacy & Learn-

ing Partners

 include Carson-Dellosa, Cinco 

Puntos Press, Dowling Magnets, Harper Collins 

Children’s Books, Highlights, Lee & Low Books, 

Melissa & Doug, and Penguin Random House.
We’re proud to report we’re nearing completion, 

with substantial results, on our $3.8 million, 

two-year 

Innovative Approaches to Literacy 

(IAL) 

grant from the U.S. Department of Educa-

tion. As the only national nonprofit selected for 

a second consecutive IAL grant, following our 

previous award of $2.87 million for 2012 – 2014, 

we are on target to surpass our goal by nearly 

2,000 families. 
A randomized control trial evaluation conducted 

by Washington State University and The 

Chicago School of Professional Psychology 

determined that READY! for Kindergarten had 

a significant impact on the early literacy scores 

for all groups assessed. Read more about the 

results on page 23 or on our website at  

ReadingFoundation.org. 
We’re honored to work alongside our excep-

tional program partners who have a steadfast 

commitment to children’s academic achieve-

ment. Thank you for your continued support.

Paul Rosier, Ph.D. 

President, Board of Directors

Rick Donahoe

CEO

Sincerely,