The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading today named Leslie Boissiere as Chief Operating Officer, a position which will allow her to run the day-to-day operations for our growing enterprise.

Boissiere comes to the GLR Campaign after nearly two decades of work in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, where she dealt with such issues as disconnected youth, financial security for seniors and homeownership in underserved markets. She says she is looking forward to helping direct the Campaign’s efforts to double the number of children from low-income families who are reading proficiently by the end of third grade.

“It’s a privilege to join a Campaign that has built so much momentum across the country,” Boissiere said. “It’s clear that if we’re going to do something about intergenerational poverty, we need to start with our most vulnerable children. These communities, foundations and partners are showing that, working together, we can achieve our goal.”

Boissiere served for a year as Executive Director of the White House Council for Community Solutions, a panel within the Corporation for National and Community Services that brought together resources in business, philanthropy, nonprofit and government to address national challenges. She has also worked for the AARP and Fannie Mae, as well as served as a strategic planning consultant for nonprofit and business clients.

“Leslie’s background, experience and skill sets will help sustain the GLR Campaign’s momentum at this critical stage in its development,” said Ralph Smith, the Campaign’s Managing Director and a Senior Vice President at the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Since the GLR Campaign’s launch in February 2011, the indefatigable Smith has crisscrossed the country, meeting with communities, nonprofits and policymakers in a role he describes as “being lead champion and ambassador as well as chief strategy officer.”

In a letter to communities and partners working with the Campaign, Smith wrote:

“Just about this time last year, I offered up this assessment on the Campaign.  “In many respects, we have been running a marathon at sprint speed.”  I noted that we had “exceeded our expectations” and needed to ensure that the Campaign avoid becoming “a victim of its own success.”  The promised period of reflection did occur, but not quite in the way I had expected.  Rather than spending more time in the office and less on the road, the reality was the opposite…The invitations from the GLR Communities required more time on the road and with the civic leaders, public officials and engaged citizens who are working to make grade-level reading a reality in their respective communities….

I have come to understand how important it is to be there in person to support the leaders, affirm the effort and lift up the fact that each local effort is connected to something larger from which they can draw information, assistance and support and to which they contribute energy and momentum. And then there is ongoing “crowdsourcing” that is the successor to the pre-launch listening tour and the post-launch retail evangelism. The past year has confirmed that this commitment to crowdsourcing is essential to the Campaign’s ability to reflect, refine, re-set and when necessary re-invent. In many respects, crowdsourcing sits at the core of strategy development.

The increased clarity regarding the responsibilities that go with being lead champion and ambassador as well as chief strategy officer led me to conclude that an important next step was that of finding and recruiting a Chief Operating Officer who could be counted upon to provide inspired and inspiring day-to-day management of this growing enterprise. Over the past six months, I have spoken with literally dozens of potential candidates who were suggested and referred by many of you. Those conversations helped me to appreciate Leslie’s background, experience and skill sets and to see just how they would contribute to the Campaign at this stage in its development.