RORRI
Vol. 8, Issue 4
November 2018
In This Issue
Dr. Deitrich and Courtenay Dubois Needham
Thank You "Birth - 6 Month Pilot Project" Supporters!

On October 12, RORRI marked the wrap up of a two-year long "Birth - 6 Month Pilot Project" at Smithfield Pediatrics where we celebrated Dr. Dinusha Dietrich , Dr. Stephanie Penchuk, and their staff members who were integral to completing this project. The guest of honor was  Courtenay Dubois Needham , who, along with her parents  Chuck and Keith Dubois and the  Charles S. & Millicent P. Brown Family Foundation funded this initiative. 

This project was designed to investigate whether giving a book to families with an infant would be more impactful than starting the Reach Out and Read program at 6 months of age -- and we were excited to gather some interesting findings, to be released soon . Thank you to the funders and to the staff of Smithfield Pediatrics  for helping us to contribute to the growing body of knowledge about reading to baby and its impact not only on the child but on the entire family.
Welcome New RORRI
Executive Director!

Reach Out and Read Rhode Island welcomes Autumn Payne as our new executive director.  Prior to joining RORRI, she held various nonprofit and higher education positions, most recently at Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, CT.
 
Autumn is eager to take on the role. "I come from a family of educators," she said, "and I believe unequivocally that education is the path that offers the best chance for lifelong success. Because academic achievement can be difficult for some people-for a lot of different reasons -  the Reach Out and Read model is critical for helping young children begin kindergarten ready to learn."
 
Autumn received her B.A. in archaeology from U.C. Berkeley and her M.A. in industrial and organizational psychology from Brooklyn College. In her spare time, she volunteers for Hire Heroes USA, a veteran organization committed to veteran and military spouse employment.
van Beuren Charitable Foundation 
Funds  Strategic Planning
 
RORRI staff and board members are thrilled to have received funding from the van Beuren Charitable Foundation to support strategic planning and has hired Consultant  David Karoff to lead this process . Developing a new strategic plan is crucial for our small but mighty organization, which has grown tremendously in the last five years. With four new staff members joining us in the last two years, many new sites in our network, and a new Executive Director, the time is ripe to update our plan. Thank you to the van Beuren Charitable Foundation for helping us to create a roadmap for the future, so we can empower families to better prepare Rhode Island's youngest children for kindergarten !  
Welcome New RORRI Board Members

Rachel Caldwell, Esq. is Senior Legal Counsel (Healthcare and Regulatory) at CVS Health. There since 2013, Rachel works on a wide-array of regulatory and healthcare compliance matters, and supports healthcare and business initiatives such as optometry, audiology, tele-health, and front store projects. Prior to that, Rachel worked as an associate in the Litigation Department of Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP. Rachel grew up in RI and lives in Providence with her husband Ben and three daughters. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling with her family and story-time with her girls.
Hilarius Stephen, Esq. is an accountant at Howland Evangelista Kohlenberg Burnett LLP. Hilarius has worked at a "Big Four" accounting firm serving small to large scale financial institutions, as well as serving as Chief Accountant of a major hospital, with extensive experience in health sector budgeting and medical billing. Hilarius also served the Government of St. Lucia as an internal auditor. Hilarius grew up in St. Lucia and immigrated to the US in 2005 to accompany his wife Leonnette. In his spare time Hilarius can be found fishing, cooking, and playing cricket.

We're Turning 20!
    Celebrate Reach Out and Read RI's milestone with us 
on  May 2, 2019 at the Providence Art Club! 
More details coming soon.

In the News

Martha Stewart Living Magazine highlighted Reach Out and Read in an article discussing the newest report that, " nearly a quarter of Americans didn't crack a book last year."  https://www.marthastewart.com/1530823/how-to-read-more