Karen Berger
Vice President and Development Committee Co-chair, Ready Readers
CEO and President, Quality Medical Publishing, Inc.; author, editor and lecturer; former Editor-In-Chief, Medical Division, C.V. Mosby Publishing Company; former Special School District tutor; former high school teacher; former researcher, Washington University Urban and Regional Studies Program
Jim Bogart
Development Committee member, Ready Readers
Manager, Development and Foundation, St. Louis County Library District; former Vice President, Government Relations, Charter Communications; former Vice President, St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association; former Director of Planning and Programs, Missouri Supreme Court; Co-founder, St. Louis Sports Commission; Co-founder and Board member, Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition; Past President, St. Louis Economic Council; Co-founder and Board member, St. Louis Olympic Festival (1994); United Way Allocations Committee; past member, St. Louis County Library Board of Trustees; past President, St. Louis County Library Foundation; Leadership St. Louis Program Graduate (FOCUS St. Louis); Mentor St. Louis participant; member, Clarkson Eyecare Foundation; The Big Read Advisory Committee
Harvey Citerman, C.P.A.
Treasurer, Finance Committee Chair, Ready Readers
Principal, LarsonAllen, LLP; former Principal, Citerman & Tumbarello, P.C.; former Partner, Touche Ross & Co.; Treasurer and Board member, Missouri Coalition for the Environment; former Treasurer and Board member for the following agencies: Jewish Community Centers Association, Life Skills Foundation, and Missouri Arts & Education Council
Audrey G. Fleissig
Chair, Program Oversight Committee, Ready Readers;
United States Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri; former United States Attorney; Past President, Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater St. Louis; Adjunct Professor, Washington University School of Law; former elementary school teacher's aide; former Ready Readers' volunteer reader
Susan Kalishman Goldberg
Secretary, Development Committee member, and volunteer reader, Ready Readers
Marketing Consultant; Board of Directors, The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis; Vice-Chair and Board of Directors, Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation; Nominating Committee Chair and Board of Directors, The Magic House; former Marketing Director of the Regional Arts Commission - St. Louis; Holiday Inn Worldwide; Atlanta Olympic Committee; Turner Broadcasting and Ralston Purina; former first grade teacher; Ready Readers volunteer reader
Nicole Reid Gore
Governance Committee member and volunteer reader, Ready Readers
Attorney; Career Services Advisor, Washington University School of Law; former Director of Multicultural Affairs, St. Louis University School of Law.
Patricia Roland- Hamilton
Development Committee member and Governance Committe member, Ready Readers
President, Civix Group; civic activist serving on numerous Boards; former Project Coordinator for Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative and Project Coordinator for Project Safe Neighborhoods for the U.S. Attorney; former Director of St. Louis Regional Ceasefire Initiative; helped establish U.S. Dept. of Justice Weed and Seed Program; former Law Enforcement Coordinator directing federal, state and local efforts to reduce crime; formerly held several governmental and legislative affairs positions and worked as a freelance writer for The Riverfront Times and St. Louis Magazine.
Jennifer V. Howard
Development Committee member and volunteer reader, Ready Readers
Former Manager, Skystone Ryan; Robeson Award for Excellence in Client Service, Skystone Ryan; member, Board of Directors, Gateway Greening, Inc.
Sandy Jaffe
Books Committee member, Finance Committee member, Ready Readers
CEO and founder of The Booksource; President, American Wholesale Booksellers Association; Board member, Alzheimer’s Association; Board member, The Big Read; Past President, Educational Paperback Association; Past Board member, Mid County YMCA.; past Board member, Talking Tapes/Textbooks on Tape.
Carol Kaplan-Lyss
Governance Committee and Books Committee, Ready Readers;
Parenting Educator and Counselor, Clayton Schools’ Family Center; co-founder, National Institute for the Study of Parenting Education; Board member, National Parenting Educator Network; member, Family Support of America; member, NAEYC; member, Phi Delta Kappa (national honorary educational association); musician and author of children’s literature and music.
Diane Knapp
Books Committee member, Program Oversight Committee member, and volunteer reader, Ready Readers
Co-founder, Ready Readers; community activist; church organist; participant in liturgical and musical ministries as a parishoner of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Valley Park.
Linda MacCarthy Finerty
Finance Committee member and volunteer reader, Ready Readers
Co-founder, The Initial Design; Certified Financial Planner; former bank officer; Board member, The Magic House Children's Museum; Board member, Missouri Botanical Gardens; Treasurer and board member, AIM High; former member, St. Louis Art Museum Friends' Board; former Board member, Moneta Foundation; former Board member, Junior League; former Board member, Eliot Chapel Nusery School
Suzanne Siteman Phillips
Development Committee member
Author/Essayist; Assistant Director of Education, Boston Center for Adult Education (1990-1993); Host Family Program Coordinator, Washington University (1989-89); Distribution Committee, Siteman Family Foundation (2001-present); Zoofari (2007); Spirit of St. Louis Fund (2006-present)
Peter H. Ruger, Atty.
Governance Committee Chair, Ready Readers
Attorney/educator/legal author; attorney concentrating in nonprofit, education and health law; former General Counsel, Washington University (1997-2004); former General Counsel, SIU; Past President, awards recipient and member, National Association of College and University Attorneys; member, Missouri Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
Sally Schoenecker
Development Committee member and Program Oversight Committee, Ready Readers
Former Director, Eliot Chapel Nursery School; Former CEO/President, Ready Readers; Emeritus Board Chair, The Magic House of St. Louis Children’s Museum; current member, St. Louis AEYC; former member, Advisory Board of Directors, Miriam School; former member, Eden Laboratory School Board; former member, Advisory Board of Directors, Miriam School; past Chair, Unitarian Chapel Board of Directors.
Steven R. Stout
Board Chair/President, Ready Readers
Founder and Co-owner, KASS-MSO, Inc.; Founder and President, Endeavors of St. Louis, LLC; former CEO and Local Board Chair,Tenet Deaconness Health System; Tenet Deaconness Health System Board of Directors; Board Chairman, Emmaus Homes, Inc. Board of Directors; Officer and committee member, Parkway United Church of Christ
We are an award-winning, non-sectarian, not-for-profit Missouri corporation. Our sole mission is to inspire at-risk preschool children to become readers. (See our Mission Statement, below.) 
We provide new readers with initial and ongoing training, including a free professional video, in which experienced readers demonstrate and teach how to select books preschoolers love; how to prepare in advance to read to a group of young children; how to capture and hold the group's attention; and how to maximize the pleasure of reading aloud. The video concludes by showing an experienced reader, who implements all of the above hints while reading a book from beginning to end. 
INTERNET PRIVACY POLICY
Studies show that children under five years old, who are regularly exposed to reading aloud, and who have easy access to books, develop a readiness to read and an enthusiasm for reading superior to that of other children. We saw a need in the St. Louis area for a non-sectarian program that offers an ongoing "read-aloud" experience and regular gifts of new books to at-risk preschool children in our area. Ready Readers was formed to help meet this need.