October 25, 2017
Reading Partners Announces a New Chief Financial Officer and Strong Student Results
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Michael Todd
Director of Marketing & Communications
(415) 225-9139 | michael.todd@readingpartners.
READING PARTNERS ANNOUNCES A NEW CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER AND STRONG 2016-17 STUDENT IMPACT RESULTS
(Oakland, CA) October 25, 2017
Former Gap Inc. executive, Nolene Fabre, joins the early literacy nonprofit to help bring the proven program to more students across the country
Nolene Fabre, a talented and highly compassionate financial leader joins Reading Partners as Chief Financial Officer of the national nonprofit literacy organization. With over two decades of experience in private sector finance and accounting and ten years of experience in the public/nonprofit sector as a board member, treasurer, and volunteer, Ms. Fabre is well-positioned to help Reading Partners accelerate its growth and community impact in the years ahead.
“Nolene Fabre is a strong financial leader with both a track record of business success and a commitment to important social causes,” said Karine Apollon, Chief Executive Officer of Reading Partners. “The search committee, which included several members of our national board, was highly impressed with Nolene’s background and clear passion for our mission. We are thrilled to have Nolene join our leadership team and the broader Reading Partners community.”
Prior to joining Reading Partners, Ms. Fabre held several leadership roles at Gap Inc., including as corporate controller and CFO of several divisions. While at Gap Inc., she volunteered for nine years as treasurer and then an audit committee member of Gap Foundation. She is a Support Committee member and volunteer at Redwood Family Shelter for homeless families, and served as a board member for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of San Francisco for four years. Ms. Fabre was also formerly the corporate controller for two software companies in Silicon Valley, and was a partner at KPMG in San Francisco. During her tenure at KPMG, she audited several nonprofit and government organizations.
Ms. Fabre believes that every child should have the opportunity to reach his or her academic potential, and was attracted to Reading Partners because of the proven effectiveness of its program. Ms. Fabre joins Reading Partners as a new program year is getting underway.
“I am honored to join an organization striving to provide opportunity for all students by empowering them with core reading skills and confidence in the early elementary years,” remarked Nolene Fabre, Chief Financial Officer of Reading Partners. “I plan to use my financial expertise to do everything I can to help ensure that Reading Partners can deliver its successful, one-on-one model to as many low-income students as possible nationwide in the 2017-18 school year and in the years to come.
To speak with Nolene Fabre, please contact Michael Todd (michael.todd@readingpartners.
2016-17 school year results were strong
During the 2016-17 school year, Reading Partners continued to build on its history of successfully advancing early literacy in communities across the country. Reading Partners collaborates with community volunteers and local public schools to provide students in under-resourced schools with the proven, individualized reading intervention they need to read at grade level by fourth grade. Reading Partners works with teachers and principals at local public elementary schools to identify students reading behind grade level and provide them with personalized literacy instruction in a dedicated “reading center” space at their school.
Each year, Reading Partners issues student impact reports for the national organization and for each of its 14 respective regions across the country. The impact reports for the 2016-17 school year have recently been posted on readingpartners.org and include the following national highlights.
Reading Partners national impact:
- More than 11,000 students were matched at 225 reading centers with over 11,400 community volunteers who delivered a total of nearly 400,000 tutoring sessions over the course of the year.
- Among Reading Partners’ youngest students, 90% mastered key foundational reading skills needed to read at grade level.
- Based on survey responses, 90% of principals report improved school-wide reading progress, 98% of teachers report Reading Partners is valuable to their school and 95% of volunteers were satisfied with their Reading Partners experience.
- Learn more about Reading Partners’ national impact here.
- Regional impact reports can be found by navigating here.
Calling all volunteers for the 2017-18 school year
A mere one in five low-income students in the U.S. is reading proficiently by the fourth grade. Tragically, this translates into nearly nine million low-income elementary school students who are unable to use reading as a foundational skill to power their learning in all other subjects in school. Without developing the reading skills needed to read on grade level, kids don’t have an equitable chance to succeed in school or in life. Students who can’t read by fourth grade are four times more likely to drop out of school or not earn a high school diploma.
In the 2017-18 school year, Reading Partners aims to match nearly 13,500 community tutors with almost 11,000 struggling readers across the country. By tutoring a student one-on-one for as little as an hour a week, volunteers can make an impact that can quite literally alter the course of a child’s educational experience and life.
“I was hesitant at first, given I do not know how to teach literacy. That’s a huge responsibility that can greatly impact a student’s later success,” said Katie, a volunteer tutor with Reading Partners. “Reading Partners makes it easy for anyone to come in and help. The program provides us with all the resources necessary, from lesson plans to in-center support, to make a difference and teach a child how to read.”
The impressive student results highlighted in the 2016-17 impact reports are made attainable thanks to the generous participation of thousands of community volunteers. To become a volunteer with Reading Partners, please visit readingpartners.org/volunteer today.
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About Reading Partners
Reading Partners empowers students to succeed in reading and in life by engaging community volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring. Since its founding, the national nonprofit organization has provided proven, individualized literacy tutoring to nearly 45,000 elementary school students in under-resourced schools across ten states and the District of Columbia. Visit readingpartners.org to learn more about our program impact, or connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
