When Carol Pierce Goglia reported that she would be leaving United to Learn, where she had been president and Strategic Impact Advisor, she was only partially right. The position would change to Advisory Council for United to Learn, but her full-time leadership responsibilities would be shifted to another organization.
After years of leading the marketing and communications for Communities Foundation of Texas when it kicked off the legendary North Texas Giving Day, and then heading up United to Learn during the pandemic, it was a guessing game of where she had set her sights.
Known for her advocacy for childhood education, it didn’t surprise anyone that she was named president and CEO of Catch Up and Read (CAR), “the only reading intervention program that closes the literacy gap by leveraging data and educators to scale best practices in both English and Spanish.”
As Carol pointed out, “Given the reading crisis we’re facing as a nation, there is nothing more important than investing in our children and their teachers. I’m honored to join Catch Up and Read to advance their unique and proven model to grow more young readers who will create a bright future for themselves, their families and our region.”
To emphasize the reading crisis, Carol suggested listening to Sold a Story podcast which “details much of what has been going wrong in reading instruction across the nation. I’m so glad to be working towards a solution!”
Since its founding in 2009 by Catherine LeBlanc, CAR has grown to currently “serving 20 economically disadvantaged elementary schools in Dallas County by training over 150 teachers and providing teacher-directed tutoring impacting 3,900 first to third grade students.”
According to Catherine, “We believe Carol is the right person at the right time to oversee and expand CAR’s outreach to equip the children in our community to read on grade level by the third grade. Based on our results, we are well positioned to meet growing demand to train teachers with science-based strategies that maximize reading growth for every child.”
Carol has a proven track record undertaking such plans. During her time with United to Learn, “the education non-profit doubled its footprint, expanding its partnerships from 27 to 50 Dallas ISD elementary schools.”
CAR Board Chair Bob Dransfield commented, “We are delighted that Carol will be joining Catch Up and Read as our president and CEO. Her strong and long tenured involvement with our community is an asset that we know will be valuable as she leads CAR to the next phase of its growth and in furtherance of its mission, which is to get children to grade level reading by the time they finish third grade.”
While officially taking CAR’s leadership tomorrow (aka Thursday, January 5), Carol is already planning to expand CAR’s staff in the areas of programming, development and administrative assistants as well as “looking for more literacy coaches.” Opportunities for CAR positions can be found here.
* Graphic/photo courtesy of Catch Up and Read
Sally Cain says
Congratulations! I would love to help!
Sally Cain CALT
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