Our Mission

To promote language skills and literacy for children, beginning at birth, and to support families as their babies’ first teachers.


Our Vision

Every family will appreciate the critical importance of early childhood literacy and will engage in their child’s reading development. All children in Connecticut will have books of their own.


Core Values

  • We are committed to making books a part of every child’s life from birth.
  • We are committed to supporting families engagement in their child’s early language and literacy development.
  • We are committed to collaborative work with families, partner organizations, and other community groups.
  • We are committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in our operational practices and our community partnerships.
  • We are committed to financial sustainability.


Board of Directors

Monette Ferguson, Ph.D., Chair
Executive Director, Alliance for Community Empowerment

Carla M. Horwitz, Ed.D., Vice Chair
Lecturer, Yale Child Study Center & Department of Psychology; Director Emerita, Calvin Hill Day Care Center & Kitty Lustman-Findling Kindergarten

Jane Lee, M.B.A., Treasurer
Economic Development Coach/Consultant, All Our Kin, New Haven

Lori McInerney, Secretary
M.S., Infant/Toddler Development, Bank Street College; Parent Mentor, Bridgeport Hospital NICU

Barbara Clerkin, R.N.

Joshua A. Copel, M.D., Professor, Division of Maternal–Fetal Medicine, Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, and Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven

Mary Kay Curtiss, C.P.A., M.S.P.A., Principal, Clifton, Larson, Allen, LLP, West Hartford

Jennifer Groves Fusco, J.D., Principal, Updike, Kelly & Spellacy, P.C., New Haven

Katherine Kohari, M.D., Yale Maternal Fetal Medicine, New Haven

Nick Lebron, Catholic Charities, Regional Coordinator & Community School Manager, Hartford

Lisa Maass, President, Citizens Bank CT, New Haven

Irene Peluso, Human Resources, Viking Global Investors, Greenwich

Anna Reiter, Campaign Manager, Geologist

Roxanne J. Coady, Founder and Board Emeritus
President and Owner, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison

Karen Pritzker, Board Emeritus

Staff

ADMINISTRATION

Suzannah Holsenbeck, Executive Director
[email protected]

Kascia Williams, Program Director
[email protected]

Paula Grimm, Data Director
[email protected]

Kimberly Garner, Office Manager
[email protected]

Shitu Rajbhandari, Grants Writer
[email protected]

Deja Senna-Leslie, Communications Coordinator
[email protected]

Lynn Dorsey, Transportation Associate
[email protected]

PROGRAMS

Books for Babies

Cynthia Beuns-Parker, Books for Babies Manager
[email protected]

Vicki Roberts, Books for Babies Coordinator
[email protected]

Books for Kids

Linda Sylvester, Books for Kids Co-Coordinator
[email protected]

Evelyn Tomasello, Books for Kids Co-Coordinator
[email protected]

Bookmobile

Pam Katynski, Bookmobile Manager
[email protected]

Claudeliz Martinez, Bookmobile Assistant
[email protected]