Convene. Converse. Commit. Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), the nation’s largest nonprofit organization for children’s literacy, today gathered leaders in education, community, non-profit, government and corporate America to advance the cause of children’s literacy during the first annual National Reading Coalition. With 25 million children in the U.S. not reading proficiently, the day-long forum brought together America’s thought leaders to share solutions, develop connections and take action to ensure every child has the tools needed to read, succeed and become contributing members of society. Coalition participants took a pledge to advance their organization’s efforts in supporting childhood literacy.

RIF’s National Reading Coalition is inspired in part by the 2016 report published by the Business Roundtable entitled, Why Reading Matters and What to Do About It: A CEO Action Plan to Support U.S. Literacy Rates. Dane Linn, Vice President of the Business Roundtable, served as the keynote speaker for the National Reading Coalition event.

“Reading Is Fundamental has the privilege of working with individuals and organizations striving to tackle the serious issue of children’s literacy,” said Alicia Levi, President and CEO of Reading Is Fundamental. “By uniting change makers to share solutions and foster collaboration, the Coalition can collectively strengthen our country’s ongoing commitment to childhood literacy and foster substantive action that will help prepare every child to succeed and thrive.”

RIF’s 2018 Champions of Children’s Literacy were honored during the event, which was held in Washington, D.C.  The annual Awards recognize the contributions of individuals who are committed to children’s literacy. The 2018 honorees include Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington), and Lulu Delacre, children’s book author and illustrator. In a lunchtime conversation Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Lulu Delacre discussed the Justice’s new children’s book, Turning Pages: My Life Story, which was illustrated by Lulu Delacre, and theTheyY The role of reading in their personal and professional journeys.

The first annual National Reading Coalition gathered leaders and pioneers across different sectors to address the issue of childhood literacy from their vantage point and to provide tangible and actionable tactics that attendees can implement within their own organizations. Each shared a case study and led panel discussions with participants representing the public and private sector, who have shown leadership around the issue of childhood literacy and related educational issues, and created successful partnerships and programs to address it. These organizations and associations have led the way in defining successful models that address the link between literacy and the future workforce. For a full list of speakers and participants please go to https://www.rif.org/nrc.

About Reading Is Fundamental:
Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) is committed to a literate America by inspiring a passion for reading among all children, providing quality content to create impact, and engaging communities in the solution to give every child the fundamentals for success. As the nation’s largest nonprofit organization for children’s literacy, RIF has provided more than 415 million books to 40 million kids in all 50 states, inspiring generations to read, learn and grow.