PLATINUM2022

Reach Out and Read of Greater New York, Inc.

When children learn to read, their own store begins.

New York, NY   |  http://www.reachoutandreadnyc.org

Mission

Reach Out and Read of Greater New York (ROR GNY) is a nonprofit organization that promotes early literacy and school readiness in pediatric exam rooms nationwide by giving new books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud. The program builds on the unique relationship between parents and medical providers to develop critical early reading skills in children, beginning at birth to age 5. As a 501(c)3 regional affiliate of a national, early literacy program, ROR GNY serves 255,000 children living in poverty at over 230 ROR program locations.

Notes from the nonprofit

Reach Out and Read of Greater New York gives young children a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together. We build on the unique relationship between parents and medical providers to develop essential early literacy skills in young children via the existing health infrastructure.

Ruling year info

2000

Executive Director

Ms. Emily Marchese

Main address

105 West 86th Street #330

New York, NY 10024 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

13-4080045

NTEE code info

Other Youth Development N.E.C. (O99)

Hospitals and Primary Medical Care Facilities (E20)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

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Programs and results

What we aim to solve

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Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Reach Out and Read

Since 1999, ROR GNY has provided books to children six months through five years old and literacy guidance to parents and guardians at hospitals and health centers in the greater New York region. Children visiting these sites for a check-up receive a new age-appropriate book, and their parents receive guidance on the development of their children's early literacy skills, with strong encouragement to read aloud to their children regularly.   In addition, waiting rooms at health centers are "literacy rich," with books for older siblings and, when possible, volunteers reading aloud to children and modeling read-aloud techniques for parents.   Reach Out and Read programs especially target children living below or near the poverty level.

Population(s) Served
Infants and toddlers
Children and youth

Where we work

Number of books distributed

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Infants and toddlers, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people

Related Program

Reach Out and Read

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

At each well-child visit from six months through five years of age, the child receives a new book to take home and build their home library. We track books distributed to ensure program efficacy.

Number of children served

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Infants and toddlers, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people

Related Program

Reach Out and Read

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

No other early literacy organization has both the scale to reach hundreds of thousands children and the solid evidence base to support program effectiveness.

Number of program sites

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Infants and toddlers, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people

Related Program

Reach Out and Read

Type of Metric

Input - describing resources we use

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Medical providers seek to sign up for our program because it is so impactful.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

In aiming to create a better avenue for building early literacy skills in children ages 0-5, our program seeks to provide books and literacy guidance to the children and families who participate in Reach Out and Read of Greater New York. While Reach Out and Read of Greater New York touches families of diverse economic and racial backgrounds, in NYC, Long Island, and the Greater Hudson Valley, the majority of the children and families served in our program are in the lower-income bracket. It is our mission to get books in the hands and homes of those most in need. By the age of 5 children in our program have a collection (on average) of 10 books in their homes before they enter kindergarten.

Our first line of strategy is working with pediatricians and medical providers who manage a Reach Out and Read of Greater New York program at their hospitals or medical centers. We train pediatricians in our model When a child comes in for a well-child visit Reach Out and Read of Greater New York is also a part of a few literacy-based organizations adding to continua of services around literacy resources, which partner together to help support the whole family. We also aim to give parents and caregivers the tools and coaching they need to empower them to help their children be ready for school. Our organization, while separate from the flagship organization, Reach Out and Read located in Boston, does work in collaboration with the Reach Out and Read headquarters as well as other affiliates in our network. We also partner with multiple publishers to supply diverse and age-appropriate books our 233 sites in the New York and Greater New York area.

Additionally, currently, in the time of COVID-19, we have added virtual programming which includes daily read alouds and bilingual workshops for families. Although this programming is being created in response to the pandemic, we plan to use the recorded videos as teaching tools and resources for families and pediatric medical providers in the future as well.

Currently, to meet our goals, Reach Out and Read of Greater New York encourages providers and site coordinators to take the online training through myROR, the database developed by our National affiliate. We also engage in targeted fundraising and seeking creative ways to increase our book support capacity through programs like “Adopt-a-Site.” Adopt-a-Site is where a generous donor decides to support a site whether monetarily for the purchase of books or by hosting book drives for the site. We are constructing a volunteer training program as well as cultivating in-kind book donations and partnering with city council initiatives and local collective impact projects.

As we continue to find ways to improve on fidelity to our model, Reach Out and Read has had success over the past few years, which includes being asked to pilot new programming. In partnership with City’s First Readers, the program Books In The Nursery was born. The goal was to distribute one title I Will Talk To You, Little One by Phyllis Grann and famous illustrator Tomi dePaola to new parents and caregivers upon the birth of their child. More than 275,000 copies of I Will Talk To You, Little One have been distributed in English and Spanish to families at our participating hospital sites. Secondly, we have identified program sites working with special populations such as the underhoused and homeless, and children and families with special needs. Lastly, we have expanded our multilingual book distribution efforts by providing books beyond English and Spanish. We now offer books in Haitian-Creole, Manadrin, Arabic and French.
We have consistently met 50% of our population’s book needs over the past 5 years → increasing the percentage of book needs met moving forward. We have been asked to participate in 3 pilot programs: First 1000 Days, Read the City Campaign and United for Brownsville collective impact project. Most recently, we have launched a robust virtual programming as a response to the COVID pandemic.
Our future goals are to increase consistency across sites, new hands-on provider training, volunteer training, meeting the book needs, more virtual programming, continuing to partner and grow with the other city initiatives.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.
  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback

Financials

Reach Out and Read of Greater New York, Inc.
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Reach Out and Read of Greater New York, Inc.

Board of directors
as of 08/19/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Jack Pace

White & Case, LLP

Term: 2011 -

Gary Tannenbaum

Miltan Management

Judith Levine

No Affiliation

Leora Mogilner

Mount Sinai Medical Center

Jack E. Pace

White & Case LLP

Goldie Alfasi-Siffert

The Institute for Family Health

Rita Brause

Fordham University

Bonnie Lieberman

No affiliation

Sergey Kraytman

Goldman Sachs

Joshua Greene

S&P Global

Anjali Thadani

Dorothy Weintraub

Scholastic

Bianca Mason

Adam Kaufman

Susan Elbe

Jenny Gilmore

Deloitte

Matt Gregory

Janicelynn Park

Lisa Nelson

Farhan Husain

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 8/19/2022

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 02/03/2022

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.