Vision, Values, Voices: A Networked Approach to Supporting Communities

Last month, the Reach Out and Read Leadership Conference, Vision, Values, Voices: A Networked Approach to Supporting Communities, was held in Madison, WI. This is the first time the network has come together in person in three years, and we are thankful for the opportunity to once again be able to do so.

Keynote speaker **Janean Dilworth-Bart, PhD, MS**

During our time together, we focused on the following:

Developing a shared understanding of strategy and where Reach Out and Read will go as part of a movement to shape pediatric care and center communities.
Building alignment on how we will achieve this shared strategy
Anchoring in professional learning together, honoring and engaging diverse voices
Deepening our relationships as a network, strengthening our own community, and reflecting the values and behaviors that we seek to promote more broadly

Thank you to our network for everything you did to help weave together the vibrant experience, from shaping vision and content to presenting and sharing information from sites and communities.

Thank you to our network for everything you did to help weave together the vibrant experience, from shaping vision and content, to presenting and sharing information from sites and communities.

Thank you for living, laughing, and learning together under the same physical roof again. With 135 participants, 13 breakout sessions, four plenaries (focused on parent partnership, organizational strategy, centering communities and engaging in eco-system partnerships, and incorporating Reach Out and Read into health systems), robust sponsor support and presence, and a Keynote by Janean Dilworth-Bart, PhD, MS (Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Phyllis Northway Faculty Fellow, Department Chair and Professor in Human Development and Family Studies, The School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison), Makes Me Wanna Holler: A Perspective on Black Families and Children in this Sociohistorical Context, we were thrilled to look out, look ahead, and merge ideas and perspectives throughout our time together.

During our time together, we celebrated some extraordinary community members with the following awards recognition.

Gretchen Hunsberger Medical Champion Award went to Usha Ramachandran, MD, Reach Out and Read New Jersey

_{Dr. Terri McFadden, Georgia Medical Director; Dr. Usha Ramachandran, New Jersey Medical Director and Dr. Perri Klass, National Medical Director}

This award was established in 2016 in honor of our late colleague, the Gretchen Hunsberger Medical Champion Award honors a doctor or other medical provider who has been extraordinary as a trainer, clinician, and/or clinical director, one whose exemplary personal and professional medical leadership has helped to make delivery of the Reach Out and Read program model all it can be in pediatric primary care. The recipient of the award receives a plaque of recognition and his/her medical practice receives a gift of 250 books.

Richard Robinson Award went to Clínica Santa María – Trinity Health, Reach Out and Read Michigan (accepted by Kam Selleck, Practice Leader)

Richard Robinson Award winner — _{Marty Martinez, Hilary Marine, Michigan, Judy Newman, Scholastic; Kam Selleck, Clinica Santa Maria, Darla Harris Schaap, Michigan and Dr. Donna Lowry, Michigan}

Named in honor of Scholastic Inc. former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard “Dick” Robinson, this award recognizes the extraordinary implementation of the Reach Out and Read program by a medical practice or clinic that inspires others with their efforts in support of our shared mission of early literacy promotion. The recipient program receives a gift of a plaque of recognition and 250 books.

Wyntress Smith Award: Hannah Ongman (Reach Out and Read National), Cindy Little (Reach Out and Read San Diego)

_{Marty Martinez, Cindy Little, San Diego, Hannah Ongman, National, Lambrina Kless, National and Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, Reach Out and Read Board Chair}

Instituted in 2011 in honor of the late Wyntress Smith, Program Coordinator for Reach Out and Read for Solano County Library Literacy Service, this award recognizes two individuals – one in Reach Out and Read’s national office and one member of Reach Out and Read’s field staff – who go above and beyond and truly embody the organization’s core values of Passion, Excellence, Respect, and Innovation. Each recipient receives a framed certificate.

Thank you to our conference sponsors