Philadelphia, April 25, 2017
Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI), a 501(c)(3) headquartered in Philadelphia, that works with teachers locally and nationally to get more children reading proficiently by 3rd grade, received a generous donation from Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc., a leading global provider of technology-enabled risk and benefits solutions. Sedgwick’s Jonathan Mast, Director of Social Media, and Tracy Mock, Vice President of Marketing, presented CLI with a $10,000 check and a book donation to stock CLI classrooms nationwide.
Sedgwick’s $10,000 donation will support CLI’s operating expenses and to further develop its free, online resource for early grade educators—LEARN: Literacy Education and Resource Network (https://learn.cli.org). LEARN is a comprehensive resource available to the entire U.S. education community. Featuring best practices in early literacy instruction like Guided Reading and Intentional Read Aloud, these learning modules offer research, lesson plans, checklists, and video demonstrations to fully support the early literacy professional development needs of educational professionals with varying levels of experience.
Furthermore, the Sedgwick team generously donated books that will go into kindergarten through 3rd grade classrooms partnering with CLI. Titles included Daniel Finds a Poem by Micha Archer; Little Roja Riding Hood by Susan Middleton Elya; The Barefoot Book of Children by Tessa Strickland and Kate Depalma; Maya’s Blanket/La Manta de Maya by Monica Brown; Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras by Duncan Tonatiuh; and Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History by Walter Dean Myers.
Jonathan Mast, Director of Social Media at Sedgwick (center), presents CLI’s Jen Weikert, Director of External Relations (left), and Frank Grossman, Deputy Executive Director and Chief Academic Officer (right), with a $10,000 check and book donation.
“Sedgwick’s donation of $10,000 and books solidifies a new philanthropic partnership for CLI—one that has multiple touchpoints. By investing in CLI, Sedgwick supports CLI’s mission to improve early literacy instruction to help more children become powerful readers, writers, and thinkers,” said Frank Grossman, Deputy Executive Director and Chief Academic Officer. “In addition, books from our curated collections are another tangible way to connect children to books to help bolster their love of reading inside and outside the classroom.”
“We applaud the work of the Children’s Literacy Initiative and are proud of the organization’s commitment to helping countless children develop a proficiency and love for reading. The power of LEARN as an online resource and way to broaden the geographical boundaries of this education program is impressive. Sedgwick is pleased to support this innovative approach to reading and the young lives this program touches,” said Sedgwick’s Mast.
ABOUT CHILDREN’S LITERACY INITIATIVE
Established in 1988, Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI) is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, headquartered in Philadelphia that is focused on improving literacy instruction in public, charter and parochial schools to ensure that students can read by third grade. CLI’s program provides personalized coaching for teachers and principals, research-based literacy training, and the books and materials classrooms need so that students can become powerful readers, writers and thinkers. Third-party research has shown that CLI professional development model can improve both educators’ early literacy instruction and also student reading achievement. Connect with CLI on Twitter @CLIupdates, and Facebook.
ABOUT SEDGWICK
Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc., is a leading global provider of technology-enabled risk and benefits solutions. At Sedgwick, caring countsSM; the company takes care of people and organizations by delivering cost-effective claims, productivity, managed care, risk consulting and other services through the dedication and expertise of more than 14,000 colleagues in some 275 offices located in the U.S., Canada, the U.K and Ireland. Sedgwick facilitates financial and personal health and helps customers and consumers navigate complexity by designing and implementing customized programs based on proven practices and advanced technology that exceed expectations. Sedgwick’s majority shareholder is KKR; Stone Point Capital LLC, La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and other management investors are minority shareholders