Jeffrey Blount, author and Emmy award winner, joins national board of Reading Partners

Award-winning television director, author, and script writer to bring his extensive experience and an equity focus to Reading Partners as a national board member


Oakland, CA, Feb. 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jeffrey Blount, an accomplished author and television director, has joined the national board of Reading Partners, a proven nonprofit literacy organization serving students in 12 regions across the country. Blount, an Emmy award-winning director with over three decades of experience at NBC News, directed Meet The Press, The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and major special events. Blount has also been broadly published in a variety of outlets such as HuffPost, The Washington Post, and The Grio.com, commenting on issues of race, social justice and writing. In addition to being the award-winning author of three novels — Almost Snow White, Hating Heidi Foster, and The Emancipation of Evan Walls, he is also an award-winning documentary scriptwriter for films and interactives on display in museums such as the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture.

“Jeffrey is a simply outstanding addition to the Reading Partners national board,” said Dan Carroll, national board chair of Reading Partners. “Beyond his prolific career as a decorated TV director and script writer, Jeffrey has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to educational equity through his writing and public speaking. We are deeply honored that Jeffrey has joined our national board and the broader Reading Partners community.” 

Blount’s involvement with Reading Partners started when he served as the keynote speaker at a November 2020 virtual event entitled “Reading Empowers: A Conversation About Race & Educational Equity.” At that event, Blount discussed the power literacy has to positively impact lives, and praised the critical literacy support Reading Partners provides to thousands of students across the country through its volunteer tutor model. 

“My parents believed in the power of literacy,” said Jeffrey Blount. “I am certain their conviction was the foundation for any success that I found in life. As an adult, my mission has been to promote literacy and to share its potential with children and with those who influence the lives of children. Joining the Reading Partners family gives me the opportunity to continue this important work with a community of people dedicated to helping children reach their full potential through reading. My mission aligns perfectly with Reading Partners. I am so excited to join forces in opening up the world to a nation of young readers.”

To speak with Jeffrey Blount about this new board role with Reading Partners, please contact Kathie Bennett at bennettk58@gmail.com.

 

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About Reading Partners

For over 20 years, Reading Partners has empowered students to succeed in reading and in life by engaging community volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring. Since its founding, the national nonprofit organization has mobilized nearly 70,000 community volunteers to provide proven, individualized literacy tutoring to more than 65,000 elementary school students in nearly 450 under-resourced schools across ten states and the District of Columbia. In the 2020-21 school year, in addition to offering its traditional in-person one-on-one literacy tutoring where it is safe to do so, Reading Partners is offering a range of innovations including a new online tutoring program: Reading Partners Connects. Visit readingpartners.org to learn more about our program impact, or connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram

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Jeffrey Blount (photo credit: Tina Krohn) A Reading Partners student works remotely with a volunteer tutor using the Reading Partners Connects program innovation (photo credit: Reading Partners)

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