EP 34 | Addressing the Youth Literacy Crisis with Olivia Martin
Written by Tracy Spears on June 13, 2023
You’d be surprised by the positive impact you can have on your community in just 45 minutes per week. If you want to learn how to make a huge difference in under an hour, you won’t want to miss this episode of Shift Out Loud!
I speak to Olivia Martin, who is championing students, teachers, parents, and volunteers in the meaningful work of literacy for children in Tulsa and the surrounding areas. As the Executive Director of Reading Partners of Tulsa, she works to provide students with the support they need to read at grade level by fourth grade, partnering with under-resourced schools and pairing kids with volunteer reading partners.
During our conversation, we dig into her experience in the Leadership Tulsa program, how her daughter’s passion for the theatre led to an unexpected shift in Olivia’s career, and how she’s making an INCREDIBLE difference in her community.
Listen now to discover:
- How to get more comfortable asking for money while in a fundraising role
- Why we’re currently experiencing a crisis in youth literacy — and what needs to happen in order to fix it
- How to play a role in the Reading Partners mission, in just 45 minutes per week
Guest bio: Olivia Martin is a devoted advocate for education and the Tulsa community who brings more than two decades of experience in teaching, school administration, development, and civic engagement to her role as the executive director or Reading Partners of Tulsa. She envisions a big, bold future for Reading Partners Tulsa and looks forward to nurturing data-driven growth and collaborative partnerships in the service of students’ literacy and a life-long love of learning.
Timestamps:
01:49 Intro
03:04 Meet Olivia Martin
05:25 Leadership Tulsa
09:06 YWCA, Tulsa Dream Center, Theatre Tulsa & Collegiate Hall
12:11 Performance, theatre & extroversion
15:47 Fundraising
17:58 Vital literacy statistics
22:09 Julia Louis-Dreyfuss & Toni Morrison
30:13 Reading Partners
35:58 May Fest, fundraising gala & Stacey Abrams
40:41 Getting involved & what’s next
Links:
Olivia Martin
https://readingpartners.org/location/tulsa
https://readingpartners.org/donate
Wiser Than Me™ with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
https://lemonadamedia.com/show/wiser-than-me-with-julia-louis-dreyfus
