The Read Ready Network has named educator and family engagement leader Marshelle Watkins-Blackwell as its new director.
The network said Watkins-Blackwell is an experienced advocate for children and families who will lead the region’s collaborative effort to improve early literacy and strengthen support systems for young learners across Northern Kentucky.
In her new role, Watkins-Blackwell will lead Read Ready’s work across NKY’s River Cities, coordinating partnerships among families, schools, healthcare providers, libraries, childcare centers, businesses, nonprofits and governments to ensure children enter kindergarten ready to learn and thrive.
A graduate of Northern Kentucky University, Watkins-Blackwell brings more than a decade of experience building partnerships. Throughout her career, she has championed the belief that families are a child’s first and most important teachers and that strong family-school-community partnerships are essential to children’s long-term success.
“Joining the Read Ready Network feels like the intersection of everything I have dedicated my career to; literacy, family partnership and creating opportunities for children to thrive,” Watkins-Blackwell said. “I have spent my career learning from families and working alongside communities that care deeply about their children. When we recognize and build upon the strengths that already exist within families and communities, we create lasting change that benefits children for generations.”
Prior to joining the Read Ready Network, Watkins-Blackwell served as a family resource center coordinator, where she developed innovative family engagement strategies, parent leadership opportunities and community partnerships that increased family participation and expanded access to resources for children and caregivers.
As director, Watkins-Blackwell will help guide the continued growth of the Read Ready Network, working alongside EducateNKY’s Vice President of Early Learning and Family Empowerment Jenny Watson, to advance the initiative dedicated to supporting children from prenatal development through age five across NKY’s River Cities.
To learn more about Read Ready and their efforts to support early learning in the NKY, click here. You can also see previous LINK nky coverage of Read Ready here.