BOYNTON BEACH, Fla., June 24, 2020 – The Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County swore in its new board officers at its virtual annual meeting in June. They are:
President: Len Gray of West Palm Beach is a retired human resource consultant. Previously, he was a partner at Mercer and Deloitte Consulting and held leadership roles in Cleveland, Chicago, Hong Kong, and New York. As a Literacy Coalition board member, Len has served as board secretary, sits on the Executive Committee, and has co-chaired the annual Loop for Literacy walk, bike and run and the Coalition’s Development Committee. He has been a volunteer and board member with several education and learning organizations over the year. Len is a graduate of Lehigh University and Case Western Reserve University, where he earned his MBA.
Vice Presidents: Laurie Gildan of North Palm Beach and Nancy Vera of Delray Beach are both long-time Coalition board members. Laurie is an attorney and shareholder with 30 years of practice at the firm of Greenberg Traurig. Laurie served as president of the Literacy Coalition board from 2004-2006 and chaired our Building Committee for the Blume Literacy Center. She has also chaired our Strategic Planning Committee and has served on the Read Together Palm Beach County Committee. Laurie is a graduate of Harvard Law School.
Nancy is a creative event professional with broad experience in the meeting planning and event management field. She has managed conferences, corporate incentive programs, annual meetings, and hospitality programs at sporting events. Nancy’s clients over the last 25 years include the NFL, Kraft Foods, Inc., the Miller Brewing Company, Volvo Car Corporation, Altria Group, Inc., Nationwide Insurance and Office Depot. She also has been involved with many major sporting events including the Super Bowl, the Olympics and The Masters. Nancy has served on the Executive Committee, co-chaired the Coalition’s American Girl Fashion Show and is the chair of the Literacy Links golf tournament. She is a graduate of Boston College.
Secretary: Bernadette O’Grady of Palm Beach Gardens is director of Programming and Media Convergence for WPTV NewsChannel 5. She has been a member of the Literacy Coalition board since 2000. She has served many roles on the board, including president from 2008-2010 and vice-president from 2006-2008. Bernadette is a member of the Communications Committee, the Grand Bee Committee, and chaired the Love of Literacy Luncheon from 2011-2014, and again from 2018-2020. Bernadette also volunteers at all the Coalition’s annual fundraisers.
Treasurer: Matt Criscuolo of Boca Raton is an attorney with the law firm of Cozen O’Connor. A native Floridian, Matt graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and political science before heading to law school at Nova Southeastern University. He has been a member of the Literacy Coalition board since 2017 and is involved with several of our fundraising events.
Members at Large: Regine Bataille of Delray Beach is a pediatric physician at Gentle Medicine Associates in Boynton Beach and an avid Coalition volunteer and literacy advocate. In addition to chairing the Nominating and Hospitality Committee, Dr. Bataille participates in our Reach Out and Read program. As a physician, she partners with the Coalition to prepare young children for school success by providing books to families and stressing the importance of developing early literacy skills during well-child check-ups. Dr. Bataille is a graduate of the medical school at State University of Haiti.
Harvey Oaxaca-Guzman of Oakland Park is the director of the Departments of Multicultural and Migrant Education for the school district of Palm Beach County. He oversees all Title III, Title I-C, ESOL, immigrant, world language and dual language programs, as well as the district translators. During his career, Harvey has been a part of the International Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), including serving as president of its Georgia affiliate (GATESOL) from 2013-2014, and is a current member of its Florida affiliate (SsTESOL). He is also a member of the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS) and the local affiliate Florida ALAS.
Born and raised in West Texas, Harvey graduated from McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, with a B.S. in education and a B.Mu. in church music and earned his Master’s in applied linguistics/ESOL from Georgia State University.
Parliamentarian: Lynn Kalber of West Palm Beach is a journalist with more than 35 years of experience as an editor and writer for regional print and digital publications, including formerly with The Palm Beach Post and the Sun-Sentinel and currently with Boca Raton magazine. She also planned and managed the Post’s newsroom finances for 20 years. Lynn, who joined the Coalition board in 2009, has served as Vice President and Treasurer, chaired the Communications, Celebration of Reading and Read Together committees and served on the Grand Bee and Love of Literacy Luncheon committees.
Immediate Past President: Tom Streit of Jupiter is a retired real estate lawyer, formerly a partner at Akerman LLP. Tom served two years teaching English as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco and was a social worker and youth counselor before starting law school. Since joining the Literacy Coalition board in 2011, Tom served as president from 2018-2020 and has co-chaired several events, including the 2013 Great Grown-Up Spelling Bee, now the Grand Bee, and LOOP for Literacy.
About the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County
A recipient of the coveted 4-star Charity Navigator rating for 11 consecutive years, the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County has worked to improve the quality of life in our community by promoting and achieving literacy. Nearly half of all third graders in Palm Beach County are not reading on grade level and according to the National Center for Education Statistics 2020 estimate 22.2% of adults age 16 or older in the County lack basic literacy skills meaning they are not able to read and understand short materials and fill out forms. Through extensive outreach and collaboration with a network of community partners, the Literacy Coalition strives to ensure that individuals who need to improve their literacy skills receive the help they need. By providing services to more than 29,000 adults, children and families each year, the Literacy Coalition’s goal is for every child and every adult in Palm Beach County to be able to read.
For more information, contact:
Kristin Calder
(561) 279-9103
E-mail: kcalder@literacypbc.org
