Who We Are

 
 

OUR MISSION

To leverage what already exists in school communities - talented, passionate adults - to build capacity and create fluent, motivated, self-confident readers.

 OUR VISION

All children are ready and enthusiastic readers, regardless of their zip code and the resources available to their families; and the adults in their learning community–from teachers, to leaders, to paras, to parents–are given practical and effective tools for ensuring reading success.

 
 

We work directly with high-needs schools, their staff, and students, and aim to impact the broader community for years to come through capacity-building and intervention models.

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

 
 

Literacy Trust is steadfast in our commitment to advancing equity in education. We believe that learning to read is a right that should be available to every child. We pursue our mission and vision with an unwavering commitment to providing access to high quality literacy education for all children in NYC.

 

We approach our work with a vision of promise and possibility. We believe it is critical to inspire a love of reading in every child and to empower every instructor with the physical and technological tools that are simple to use. We train, teach, and coach with a high-touch, strengths-based approach.

 
 

We approach partnership with an informed and evolving understanding of the diverse backgrounds and needs of the communities we serve, and specifically by every school, community organization, individual, and child who our teams support. We recognize the importance of providing responsive and targeted support to every partner we serve and begin that journey of learning from each partner’s starting point.

 

We are committed to making measurable impact in our partnerships. We use a well-defined program model, use data to drive student and program decisions, and measure our outcomes with rigor. We measure our delivery of resources such as professional development, book sets, literacy learning toolkits for school communities, instructors and students. We believe that human, physical, and technological resources have a measurable effect on equity, access, instructor ability, and student learning.

 

We are deliberate in our choices as an organization. We use research-based content and consider the infrastructure that must be provided for programs to work effectively. We measure our success by the outcomes of our work. We believe that being data driven and rigorous sets instructors, schools, and their students up for a positive and successful experience of program implementation.

OUR TEAM

 

ALLISON DUDLEY
Director of Finance and Business Operations

CARLY DUFFEY
Senior Program Manager

CORNEISHA CLARKE
Literacy Specialist

CRISTY CUELLAR-LEZCANO
Senior Program Manager

 

CRYSTAL FLOYD
Associate Director of Program

DEIRDRE CRUZ, PH.D.
Program Manager

LINDA ZHOU
Senior Program Manager

OLESYA HREB
Senior Manager of External Relations

 

ERICA DOHERTY
Executive Director

SOPHIE SCHECHTER
Director of Program Development

 

OUR TEAM

Literacy Trust’s staff works across three teams: Program; Strategic Partnerships; and Talent, Operations, and Culture. Our program team is composed of education and organizational experts with experience in program management and operations, early literacy, classroom teaching, instructional coaching, school leadership, adult education, and more.

Working for LT means joining a team whose passion for literacy has propelled our organization as a thought partner and leader in NYC literacy intervention. We work with school communities, local government, community-based organizations, foundations, and corporate partners to bring critical reading intervention to NYC students.

OUR BOARD

 

CATHLEEN COLLINS
Office of the President at Hunter College

CHRISTINA TETTONIS
Superintendent, Hellenic Classical Charter Schools

KAREN DANIELS
President and COO at Charter School Business Management Inc. and FOREsight Financial Services for Good

MICHAEL E. GRUEN
CEO, Exposure Labs, Inc.

 

NADA BSEIKRI
Adjunct Faculty, Albany Law School & Assistant General Counsel, Robin Hood

REBECCA TESFAYE
Attorney, Morrison & Foerster LLP

SUMEET CHUGANI
General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, Cloaked

 

OUR ADVISORS

 

BARBARA GUNN, PH.D.
Academic Advisor

PATRICIA VADASY, PH.D.
Academic Advisor

EDDIE BELTRE
Data & Operations Advisor

SINDHI POLUBOTHU
Data & Systems Consultant

 

KRISTEN D. BEACH, PH.D.
Academic Advisor

ELISABETH SHOVERS
Program Operations Advisor

 
 

FINANCIALS & MORE