Early Literacy Working Group

Working Group Purpose

The Early Literacy Working Group brings together business, education, and community leaders to advance a shared vision for improving early literacy outcomes across West Michigan. Through collaborative leadership, the group reviews research, aligns on policy and implementation strategies, and coordinates collective action around key priorities that help more students achieve reading success and long-term academic readiness.

Goal: Ensure All Kids Can Read

Strategies

  • Implement a statewide Kindergarten Readiness Assessment
  • Provide statewide coordination of literacy coaches
  • Establish a statewide Division of Literacy Improvement
  • Require science-of-reading–aligned curricula across Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3
  • Expand benchmark funds to include K-8 screeners
  • Expand evidence-based out-of-school-time literacy supports
  • Strengthen birth-five literacy supports, prioritizing evidence-based programs
  • Ensure all incoming teachers are trained in the Science of Reading
  • Reinstate the A-F school rating system
  • Reinstate literacy-based promotion with mandatory, intensive intervention

Membership

Headshot of John Kennedy

John Kennedy

President & CEO

Autocam Medical

Headshot of Sean Welsh

Sean Welsh

Regional President

PNC Financial

Lisa Hungerford

Director of Education Innovation

TalentFirst

Headshot of Lew Chamberlin

Lew Chamberlin

Chairman & Founder

Whitecaps Professional Baseball, Inc.

Leslie Brown

Chairman

Metal Flow

Mike Jandernoa

Founder

42 North Partners

Michael Sytsma

President

KeyBank

Julie Leonard

President & CEO

Lake Michigan Credit Union

Jason Vanderground

President

BrandHaven

CEO Working Group Information

Interested in learning more about a TalentFirst Working Group? Complete the form below and a member of our team will follow up with information about how you can get involved with our work.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Full Name(Required)

Related Publications

All Related Publications

The Hidden Cost of Low Pay: Analyzing and Addressing Compensation for Early and School-Aged Learning Educators in Indiana

An examination of early and school-aged learning educator compensation in Indiana, including a series of recommendations to bolster the workforce through increased compensation.

Balancing the Scales

This report provides a comprehensive overview of early care and education (ECE) compensation in Michigan and proposes a unifying wage scale that places ECE wages on par with comparable roles requiring similar skills and qualifications. The wage scale provides guidance on what ECE professionals should be paid based on their geography, role, qualifications, and years of experience — regardless of setting — and provides guidance for wage and scaling increases over time.

Childcare Workforce in West Michigan

An overview of the current state of the childcare workforce in West Michigan, including wage comparisons against similar occupations.

Latest Insights

All Related Articles
Two young students in foreground are reading books at a table in a library. Another student is in the background.
  • February 27, 2025

These schools stand apart: Six elementaries earn Literacy Leader Awards

TalentFirst has announced the 2025 winners of its Literacy Leader Awards: six West Michigan elementary schools whose excellence in reading instruction and accomplishment will be...

Children with books seated on risers, teacher at front.
  • February 10, 2025

Announcing a Regional Agreement to Solve Early Literacy Crisis

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Grand Rapids, MI (February 10, 2025) — An alliance of business, K-12 and teaching-college leaders today announced an unprecedented agreement to increase...

An infant in the foreground, with a caregiver and other toddler-aged children.
  • November 26, 2024

Why We’re Giving All Employers Access to Our Childcare Solutions

Successful business leaders don’t tolerate broken components of their operations. When a department fails to deliver, when costs overrun revenue, when a system breaks down?...