IICF partners with Sesame Workshop to support early childhood literacy

The goal of the IICF Early Literacy Initiative is to develop a united industry strategy focused on improving literacy across America. IICF has partnered with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, to launch Every Day is a Reading and Writing Day. The new digital resource includes tips, games, and activities that parents, caregivers, and volunteers can engage children with to improve their reading and writing capabilities from an early age. The resources were unveiled October 11, 2013 at the New York City Public Library and are available, for free, to parents across the country at www.sesamestreet.org/literacy. This first-of-its-kind program is designed to reach the most vulnerable and underserved children (ages 0-5) and their families.

IICF will provide a three-year grant to Sesame Workshop, totaling $750,000, to go towards the development and implementation of Every Day is a Reading and Writing Day.

The goal of the IICF Early Literacy Initiative is to develop a united industry strategy focused on improving literacy across America. IICF has partnered with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, to launch Every Day is a Reading and Writing Day. The new digital resource includes tips, games, and activities that parents, caregivers, and volunteers can engage children with to improve their reading and writing capabilities from an early age. The resources were unveiled October 11, 2013 at the New York City Public Library and are available, for free, to parents across the country at www.sesamestreet.org/literacy. This first-of-its-kind program is designed to reach the most vulnerable and underserved children (ages 0-5) and their families.

Above: Brian Duperreault, CEO of Hamilton Insurance Group, chats with Elmo about a recent initiative to raise donations for IICF's Early Literacy Initiative.

Keep reading for a special Q&A with Eden Kratchman, vice president of ACE Global Corporate Giving, and Marlene Ibsen, president and CEO of the Travelers Foundation and vice president of Community Relations at Travelers, who work closely with IICF's Early Literacy Initiative.

Q: Why is early literacy such an important cause for the insurance industry?

Eden Kratchman: The motivation is simple: When parents and caregivers introduce children to reading and writing at an early age, they experience greater success in school and later in life. Alarmingly, U.S. students are falling behind other countries in literacy skills, and within the U.S., children in underserved communities are falling even further behind. In one piece of research, often referred to as the "Word Gap Study," Betty Hart and Todd Risley found that prior to starting school, children from high-income families benefit from 400 hours more literacy-related activities than children from low-income families. Furthermore, by age four, a high-income child is exposed to 35 million more words than a low-income child.

Marlene Ibsen: In the next three to five years, the insurance industry will face a hiring challenge with a large number of seasoned professionals retiring. We have to keep our eye on the entire future workforce pipeline, and investing in programs that provide a strong early start makes sense. Coming together to support better long-term learning outcomes for all children, especially those from low-income families who may face a different set of challenges, will help position them for careers in the financial services industry.

Q: What is the nature of the partnership with Sesame Workshop?

Kratchman: In 2013, IICF announced a three-year, $750,000 grant to Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street. Through this partnership, IICF and Sesame Workshop launched “Every Day is a Reading and Writing Day,” a bilingual literacy campaign focused on closing the childhood literacy gap.

Ibsen: Travelers is the leading sponsor in a three-year grant provided by the IICF to support Sesame Workshop in developing, testing and continually improving digital and print materials. The materials are designed to help parents create an environment that gives their young children exposure to a rich vocabulary and learning opportunities on a daily basis. We understood the strong appeal of the Sesame characters, and believed that the organization’s popularity and deep commitment to learning would make it a powerful partner for driving better literacy outcomes for low-income children.

(Right: Children meet Elmo at a recent Early Literacy Initiative event IICF conducted during its Week of Giving with Children's Home + Aid, a Chicago-based nonprofit that offers child protective services, adoption services and child care. Photo: Children’s Home + Aid.)

Q: What are some of the ways IICF and the industry promote the Initiative?

Kratchman: The ACE Charitable Foundation has participated in volunteerism efforts throughout the United States, including the annual Week of Giving —  the IICF’s most visible program that allows the insurance industry to take a leadership role in the community through volunteerism and collective giving. Along with raising awareness throughout the industry itself, IICF’s literacy events have had a big impact. These events are typically held at local libraries and have provided the opportunity for thousands of local children and their parents/caretakers in to interact with the materials with teams of volunteers. Dozens of these events have been hosted across the nation since IICF launched the initiative in 2013, and these events accept volunteers from all across the industry.

Ibsen: Travelers promotes the program externally on its Community Relations website, and supports the program internally through its employee volunteer program. I have also had the privilege of introducing the Sesame Workshop program, Every Day is a Reading and Writing Day, at IICF conferences over the past couple of years.

Q: Volunteer activities such as ELI have a lot of big supporters. How can agents and brokers get involved?

Ibsen: The IICF has collaborated with Travelers and other members to develop a volunteer toolkit. The toolkit provides an easy roadmap for developing local volunteer opportunities for any organization. In addition, Every Day is a Reading and Writing Day is something that agents and brokers can promote to their customers to showcase the industry’s commitment to education, and to help families in their region ensure their children are getting a strong start. The materials are all available online, at no cost, in both English and Spanish.

Q: Can you share some of the ways the ELI has impacted families?

Kratchman: As part of an IICF initiative, more than 5,000 children and their families participated in Week of Giving activities last year. Parents and teachers who participated said that watching the interaction between literacy volunteers and 170 young children was both inspiring and heartwarming. Seeing kids happily connecting with their volunteer literacy buddy, watching them spell-bound as a children’s book author read her story to them, and hearing them shriek with glee as the Cookie Monster appeared to give them hugs, was a delight for all the adults involved. While the ACE Charitable Foundation has many initiatives that directly impact individuals living in the communities where our employees live and work, the Early Literacy Initiative stands out based on its transformational impact.