How Reading and Mental Health Skills Help Kids Grow Featuring Alicia Levi

NAMI CEO Daniel H. Gillison, Jr. discusses childhood literacy and youth mental well-being with President and CEO of Reading Is Fundamental, Alicia Levi. Brought together by our shared partnership with Macy’s, these leaders explore how Reading Is Fundamental and NAMI’s missions align. This episode asks: By developing reading and mental well-being skills, can we increase the chances that these children grow into adults who are better equipped to care for their mental health? 

 The Back to School Round Up at the Register campaign runs from July 1 – September 14, 2025. Learn more about NAMI and Reading Is Fundamental’s partnership with Macy’s at macys.com/purpose. 

You can find additional episodes of this NAMI podcast and others at nami.org/podcast.

"Hope Starts With Us" is a podcast by NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. It is hosted by NAMI CEO Daniel H. Gillison, Jr.

Episode production is provided by NAMI staff, including Traci Coulter and Connor Larsen.

Transcript

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Every child in this country, every child, should have the opportunity to read. Every child has the ability to read. Our job is to make sure that they have the opportunity to read, that we create a culture of literacy in communities and homes and schools across the country. Welcome to Hope Starts With Us, a podcast by NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. I'm your host, Dan Gillison, NAMI's CEO. NAMI started this podcast because we believe that hope starts with us. Hope starts with us talking about mental health. Hope starts with us making information accessible. Hope starts with us providing resources and practical advice. Hope starts with us sharing our stories. And finally, hope starts with us breaking the stigma. If you or a loved one is struggling with a mental health condition and have been looking for hope, we made this podcast for you. Hope starts with all of us. Hope is a collective. We hope that each episode, with each conversation brings you into that collective so you know you are not alone. So as we begin, I wanted to say that this episode focuses on how developing both reading and mental health literacy skills at early ages benefits in adulthood. I'd like to introduce our guest, Alicia Levi. Alicia is the president and CEO of Reading is Fundamental. RIF, Reading is Fundamental, is the nation's leading children's literacy organization. In her role, Alicia leverages technology to expand strategic partnerships and launch forward thinking programs to ensure every child has the opportunity to read, learn, and grow. Joining us today as part of our mutual partnership with Macy's through the brand's Mission Every One social commitment, which aims to create a brighter future for all. This summer, Macy's has partnered with Reading is Fundamental, RIF and NAMI, for a campaign that will help students head back to school with confidence, providing books and mental health resources to children nationwide as they return to school. From July 1st through September 14th, customers can round up their in-store purchases or donate online to support RIF and NAMI with funds being split evenly between both organizations. Welcome, Alicia, and we'd love to talk about this partnership. And this is the fourth year of NAMI's national partnership with Macy's with more than $2.3 million contributed to NAMI and our state and local affiliates. Now, the history of Reading is Fundamental, RIF, with Macy's is incredible. It's a 22-year partnership that has raised over--yeah, I want to I want to slow down and say this number-- $47 million, with high level impacts such as over 17 million books and library refreshes in Puerto Rico and Detroit. So we really want to express our gratitude, our collective gratitude to Macy's. And we want to say thank you. Our team has really enjoyed partnering with Reading is Fundamental through this year's round up at the Register Campaign. And would you tell us more about the campaign and how the campaign supports Reading is Fundamentals mission, Alicia? Well, I definitely will. And I just want to start by saying thank you so much for hosting me, giving me the opportunity to talk with you about the importance of children's literacy and the intersection, of course, that a child's ability to read can have on their mental health. And of course, to really talk about the remarkable commitment that Macy's has made. Macy's, the entire corporation and their customers have made over the past 22 years in saying that they believe that children's literacy is a critical element to success in every community, that every child should have the opportunity to read. So we have partnered with RIF. I know you guys have been doing it for the last four or so years. Reading is Fundamental has had the pleasure of working with, Macy's in communities across the country for over 20 years, and for over two decades that support has brought books and reading resources to the communities that Macy's serves across the country. And for your listeners that aren't as familiar with RIF, Reading as Fundamental, as you mentioned is the nation's oldest and leading children's literacy nonprofit. We have worked for over almost 60 years, and we're celebrating our 60th anniversary next year to work with reading advocates and communities across the country to ensure that every child has the opportunity to read and a partnership like the one that we have with Macy's, really allows us to accelerate that work. They've been a true partner that's helped us deepen our impact through book celebrations and communities across the country. We create literacy kits that bring book collections to children and in local communities. We've supported them in disaster response, in both Puerto Rico--in Puerto Rico as well as library refreshes, as you mentioned, in Detroit. We do educator awards in partnership with them. We've created a book collection in partnership with you guys for this summer that focuses on a sense of belonging and well-being. So, a lot to talk about. I know we'll talk about all of that today, but I think we can both agree that, our work absolutely intersects and it is made possible by partnerships like the one we have with Macy's. Alicia, thank you so much. And as I think about the 22-year relationship and the partnership that Reading is Fundamental has had with Macy's, I'm thinking about Macy's workforce and some of those young people that you impacted at the beginning of your partnership now may be employees of Macy's. And the other thing that our audience may not really know is that their small contributions when they buy and round up their purchases has made such a tremendous difference. They are a part of this. So, that that is really good to know. Now, as we think about what the work that Macy's is helping us do, it's really helping NAMI with our outreach to young youth and young adults. And I'll say it out loud. Digital card game, our mental health college guide. And really enhancing our user experience on our youth and young adult webpages. So that's some of the tangible things that we've been able to see as a result of this round-up partnership. And wanted to talk about Reading is Fundamental's mission as it is really built to address the literacy crisis in the US and inspire the joy of reading in children. So, Alicia, why is this mission so critical for America's youth? So, Dan, I think everyone listening to this will agree. I know you, and I will agree, that every child in this country, every child, should have the opportunity to read. This is not an issue that is controversial. I've never come across, I've never met a person in an airport, at a restaurant, in a school, at a family event that has said to me, gosh, Alicia, I just disagree with your mission. I don't think kids should be able to read. Every child should be able to read. The moment that I get eyebrows raising and people literally questioning me is when I say that 69% of children exiting eighth grade are not reading at a proficient level. Over two-thirds of children entering fourth grade are not reading at a proficient level. I did not make that number up. The National Assessment of Educational Progress reports on it, and they've been reporting on it for years. And coming out of COVID, those numbers have gotten worse. We have children in this country, over two-thirds of the children in this country, are not reading at a proficient level. If they enter fourth grade not reading proficiently, the chances of them catching up are very, very, very limited. And it's not because everybody doesn't agree they should be able to read. It's because the resources and the tools are not in place to ensure that they can. And again, you run an amazing organization with a remarkable mission. I run an amazing organization with a remarkable mission. This is a problem that we can solve. Every child has the ability to read. Our job is to make sure that they have the opportunity to read, that we create a culture of literacy in communities and homes and schools across the country. So when RIF talks about the joy of reading, that's really what we focus on. We focus on making sure that in communities across the country, people see this is an issue that needs to be addressed and that they recognize that they can take part. So your point about, you know, a customer visiting a Macy's or a Macy's associate at a register saying to a customer, hey, do you want to round up a couple pennies this summer to make sure that kids have books and reading resources? They are helping solve this problem. So, RIF really goes into communities across countries. We raise those dollars, we reinvest them in the communities that are being served. And we make sure through print, and digital, and community engagement activities that people in those communities, that families, and caregivers, and educators, and children all live in a community that values reading and then sees a pathway for their children to be able to read. So we bring books and literacy resources through print and digital platforms, but we also work with educators to help them be more proficient and have the tools they need to teach. We work with families to make sure they have resources that make it easier for them. I've never met a parent that doesn't think they want their child to be able to read, but sometimes they might not be proficient readers themselves. They might not have the resources to ensure that their child has a book in their home. It's not that they don't want to. They just have other priorities. And so what RIF works really hard to do is bring everybody into the environment to create that culture of reading, that can change the trajectory for young people in this country today. Again, of all the amazing, amazing nonprofit activities and philanthropies that are out there and problems that that we have to solve in this world, this is a problem that we can solve. Can we all agree that every child can read? Yes. And can we make sure that we provide them with the tools to make that happen? We absolutely can. And that's what RIF focuses on. Alicia, this is incredible. And as you shared with us, you know, I felt like this was a "did you know?" and when said that, I was listening as a parent myself. Did you know that 69% of our young people leave the six-- the eighth grade, excuse me, not being proficient in reading? Did you know that in the fourth grade, 49%. So as you shared those numbers, it would be very interesting for our parents, our listeners to really understand those numbers, because we as a society, we're moving so fast. We've become a microwave society and immediate information. And we need to slow down and understand some of these numbers. Because you're right, we can we can fix this, we can do it. And thank you for bringing up the educators. Having been married to an educator that spent 30 years educating young people in the sixth grade, I appreciate that, because that is such an important part of the solution, is our educator. She deserves a medal, a middle school educator. Boy, they are on the front lines of, you know, transformation and, you know, that's a big job. So kudos to her, for sure. Yes, yes. And reading was a principal factor in what she saw as the success of her students. So, she's definitely, incredible proponent for what we're talking about. And as part of the partnership with Macy's, I've heard we have a Reading is Fundamental approved well-being book recommendation list. Would you tell us about how that list was created, Alicia? I absolutely can and it's one of the things I'm so excited about this partnership with you guys and just this summer's execution of our program with Macy's. Of course, this is under their Mission Every One brand. And it's so important because it's really focus is on ensuring that everybody has opportunity. So when we were talking about our partnership with you guys and a book list, we really came up with this well-being list. We believe that all children deserve choice, access, and the opportunity to really engage in a way that speaks to them. Right? So I think, again, all of your listeners, you, and I can agree, we're more likely to be engaged in something if it's interesting to us and if we chose it, right? Somebody didn't tell us that we had to do it, but we got to choose it. And of course, for so many children in this country, access is really critical. And it's amazing the number of children, two-thirds of children in this country, living below the poverty line, do not have a book in their home. It's about access. So we want to make sure part of our work at RIF is making sure we provide that access to those children who would otherwise not have it. So when we thought about this collection, you know, we really take that choice, access, and engagement model into consideration, because we believe that the books they read, you know, and we make available to them, is a critical factor, right, in this. So, we also want to make sure that we're format and topic and platform inclusive. We can't, you know, dictate to children, where they're going to find reading materials anymore. We live in a such a kind of diversified media environment. We want to meet children where they are. We want to create opportunities for them to read anything, anytime, anywhere. So we factor all those things in as we're creating these collections. And at RIF we believe deeply in the importance of cultivating a sense of belonging and representation in children's literature, including diverse authors, and illustrators, and genres and topics. So again, choice, access, engagement, diversity of platform, you know, and inclusive kind of approach to, you know, a broad range of things that will appeal to a child. Again, we want to meet them where they are. And so we know that books serve as an important tool for children, acting as both windows and mirrors. And we focus our wide book selection on titles that demonstrate and celebrate a variety of experiences and backgrounds. So, in partnership with our experts and advisors, we curate books and develop supporting resources that create that culture of literacy that I talked about for children, ensuring that their reading journey is one that they choose, that they can relate to, and that they want to come back to. So that hopefully gives you a little bit of a sense. That's certainly how we approach our work for any collection that we create. But it was particularly important when we thought about the intersection of a child's, mental health, and making sure, again, that we're, that we're creating an experience for them, that they can relate to, that they can see themselves in and their experiences in, and that wants them to engage and come back and do more. Yeah. It's so cool what you're doing and your logic model in terms of how you select books and, you know, well book recommendation list. This logic model is outstanding. Thank you for sharing that with our listeners. And, you know, it is making sure that we meet, young people where they are and making sure they know they're not alone. And that, I love what you said about the reading journey. Let's make it a journey. And then it was pretty insightful in terms of-- I learn something on all of these podcasts, Aliciaa. And as you mentioned, the numbers in eighth grade, fourth grade, as well as two thirds of those living below the poverty level, excuse me, do not have a book in their house. This is really incredible. And then as you also shared, windows and mirrors. Young people, once the joy of reading and the words lifting off the page and them being able to visualize those words in terms of what they're reading, what they're seeing, what they're capturing, is pretty cool. It is really cool. And this partnership is so amazing for us because we talk about early intervention and what we say going upstream. And we want to get to young people earlier in their mental health journey, because we know if we don't, that it takes 11 years from the onset of symptoms to when they actually get treatment. The other thing we know is that many times, our young people, we say we want to go upstream. Well, what that means is that if you're going downstream, that's after someone has already fallen in the stream. We go upstream, we can get to them before they do that. And with that, that's where we're talking about this partnership from the standpoint of access to books, learning how to read, and finding joy in reading. It is incredible. And, you know, as we talk about the youth, the US youth mental health crisis, there was something called--that was done called the Youth Mental Health Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight. And it just talked about everything that's going on with our youth these days in terms of what they're trying to navigate. So, I wanted to ask you, do you think these reading recommendations could be a part of addressing youth mental health, the youth mental health crisis? Because we do think that by teaching some mental health literacy skills early, these books may be able to help young people communicate their feelings because--and their needs to trusted adults. We try to create judgment-free zones where our young people can talk to us or talk to someone and really share how they're feeling. So wanted to ask you about that. Yeah, I'm so glad that we're talking about this. Because I think children's books are a powerful tool to fight the stigma of mental health. Specifically, books can help children put a name to some of the feelings and mental health concerns that they're experiencing. I think, again, you and the amazing people that you work with are certainly the experts. But one of the reasons I was so, so excited that that Macy's brought us together for this campaign is, I think our missions align in such an interesting way. I believe a child has to be validated. They have to see themselves in their experiences in books. And I think books provide that opportunity, particularly as it relates to mental health. You're going to be able to speak to this so much better than I ever could, but I would guess that part of what you guys focus on is making sure that a child doesn't feel alone or isolated, and books enable a child to see that other that their experience is not unique. It helps--books help build empathy through characters and narratives that help students understand their own emotions. It facilitates important discussions. We could talk for hours, I think, on the child's impact. But I think it's important that we also highlight the importance of the family, that community educators, as part of the solution here. And you know, the Wellbeing Collection that we created as part of our partnership with you and Macy's through Mission Every One includes resources for the people that surround a child because they need help, too. They need tools and resources to help them navigate some of these challenging issues that children face. And of course, I fundamentally believe that books are a wonderful, wonderful tool to help facilitate some of those discussions that can be really, really challenging, and I'm really proud of the collection that we've created. I'll go on a little bit of a tangent here, Dan, on two things that all of the books are spectacular. The Boy with Big, Big Feelings is one of the stories. I was about to ask you about that one. It's one of the stories. It's relatable for any child, especially for a child experiencing anxiety or extreme emotions, you know, a child identified as a highly sensitive person, or a child on the autism spectrum. It's broadly applicable. It's beautifully illustrated and written in rhyming verse. Children and adults explore the whole spectrum of feelings and readers navigate the emotional challenges they face throughout the day. The main character has feelings so big that they glow from their cheeks, spill out from their eyes. I could go on and on and on. I love, love, love this book. I'll also highlight, Mo Willems, is the author of one of the books that we have in the collection as well. I don't know if you're familiar with the Elephant and Piggie series, but it's very personal to me. I have three children. They are amazing. They are the most remarkable thing that my husband and I will ever do. I'm proud of each of them. They have accomplished these amazing things. And my youngest, who just turned 16 last week, was a struggling reader and I am convinced-- I had the pleasure, the honor of meeting Mo Willems and his wife, actually, earlier this spring, in an event that we did with them at a book celebration event and I had my fangirl moment where I went up to he and his wife and I said, I represent all authors and illustrators and anyone who brings reading to life for children. But my personal journey, my daughter's personal journey was deeply impacted by his stories, Elephant and Piggie stories. And I am convinced that my remarkable 16-year-old daughter, who just made the National Honor Society and I'm beyond proud of her, but when she was starting her learning journey, she was a struggling reader and Mo Willems Elephant and Piggie stories were the ones that spoke to her that she could engage with, and she was lucky enough to have parents who had the resources to buy her the entire collection. And I am convinced that it created an opportunity for her to want to read. And reading is the fundamental building block for learning. And without it, you can't solve the world's problems, you can't STEM, you can't math, you can't science, you can't anything. If you can't read, you can't effectively function in society. If you can't read, you can't read a menu, a prescription bottle, the rules for your job. It is just a fundamental tool that we all need. And creating these collections, creating these opportunities to connect children to the desire to read and what we again call the joy of reading. Reading is joy. Reading is frequency, motivation. You know, that's what joy is all about. And for us, creating this collection is as the team of experts put it together, and they said, hey, here are two books that we think should be part of it. I so related to all of them, but, you know, the Boy with Big, Big Feelings was so directly aligned. And Mo Willems' remarkable story just spoke to my child's reading journey. And it just reinforces, for me, that these books can be used specifically for families that can use them to bridge important conversations with their children. They can ask their child if they've ever felt frustrated. Right? Again, this particular collection tied to mental health, you know, you can you can discuss coping strategies and self-acceptance. The list really does go on and on. But it's, in creating this collection and in partnering with you guys, it was a great way to really validate that there is a no book out there that cannot be tied to an engagement strategy for a child and then cannot then help advance outcomes for that child, even if it's not just tied to reading proficiency. Yeah. As we think about this. And it also goes, so thank you for sharing both of these. And first of all, let me back up a second and tell this. Your soon to be young adults are very fortunate to have you as a mom. I know your title is CEO, but I know that the biggest role you've had is being a mom. So to your, to your soon to be young adults and to your 16-yearold daughter, congratulations on her making the National Honor Society. I believe that's what you said. I did and I will tell her and she will be probably a little annoyed with me, but she'll be okay with it. Well, that's what happens with our children. They do get annoyed. "Mom! Dad!" So--but I wanted to say that because in our roles where it says CEO behind our names, the biggest thing I'd love for our audience to know is that we're parents, we're aunts, uncles, and we relate to all of this in the real world. So I just wanted to say that as a footnote. Now, the books that you shared, the authors that you shared, it is all about being able to get to our young people as early in their lives, in their journey, as possible. Because think about that young person, it gets to a certain point where their anxiety has just grown in them because there's words they don't understand, there's language that they don't understand. And they're reading is really, really minimal. And, but they can't say it because everyone is moving. Their peers are moving fast. And so if we can--and when I say they can't say it, they can't say what they don't know. They feel that it's going to be something that the pressure is so great that if we can get to them early and create this reading journey for them, create this mental health journey for them, and this mental well-being journey, it's a totally different outcome. So it is about us partnering and I'm just so thrilled to be partnering with Reading is Fundamental and with you. So thank you very much. Is there anything, Alicia, that you'd like to share as, I've been speaking for a few minutes here, that we haven't discussed today, anything about childhood literacy or mental well-being skills that you like to ensure are included in this conversation? Well, Dan, I'm hoping that I get invited back because I have no shortage of things to say. But again, I want to just thank you so much for at least starting the conversation here. But I think, you know, it's partnerships like this one that are so key to solving, I think, both the mental health and the literacy crisis, here in this country today, when we come together with partners like Macy's, we can drive greater impact. We can amplify awareness and unite in a way that drives change for community across this country. And I encourage anyone listening to visit, certainly to go to Macy's website and visit their Mission Every One site again. The commitment that Macy's makes to the communities that they serve is a model, I think, for corporations across the country. I would hope that every company across the country would look to what Macy's has invested, you know, that they've committed to, in making life better for the people that live in the communities they serve and model that. I would also encourage people to visit Reading is Fundamental's website Literacy Central. That's www.RIF.org/Literacy-Central. And there you can discover the collection that we talked about, the well-being collection that we talked about, that lists all these books that that we spend some time on, but also again support resources for children, coloring sheets and activity sheets and puzzles that deepen their engagement, but also resources for the caregivers around them, for parents to help them navigate some of these really difficult discussions. And for educators and caregivers and communities that are that are as invested as we are in making a difference in their lives. Beyond that, anybody that that visits, RIF's Literacy Central will literally find thousands of free reading resources that can be used in classrooms and homes across the country. We support over 6000 books in that platform, with a whole host of resources that help drive reading engagement for children. And I encourage everybody, to take advantage of those tools. You know, and we will make sure that we include the links to those tools as we share this podcast. Thank you for sharing those, Alicia. And I just want to say to the Reading is Fundamental team and work, thank you. Because we say something at NAMI that people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And this is work you all are doing because you care. And we at NAMI want to say thank you to you. Because it does take all of us and it takes people who really care. And they demonstrated. To Macy's, I want to say thank you. We want to say as a collective and a partnership, thank you for demonstrating that you care because, you know, it's this thing of I hear what you say, but I watch what you do. And Macy's has been doing it tremendously. And we're so excited to have been with him the last four years. But more excited to be partnered with Reading is Fundamental who's been with you for 22 years. So thank you Macy's. So as we conclude, I do have a question that we ask every guest at the end of the podcast, Alicia. And it's really just asking something that, you know, we know the world can be a difficult place and sometimes it can be hard to hold on to hope. That's why we do ask this question. What is it that has you hold on to hope. What helps you hold on to hope? Well, I'll tell you, I'll keep it in the context of the conversation that we're having here today. I'm optimistic and hopeful every time-- I visit as many Macy's stores as I can over the course of this promotional window that we have with them. I've just been in in four stores in the last five days in places like Savannah, Georgia and Raleigh. And I'm hopeful because I walk up to every associate in those stores and I say thank you. And they say, I think this is something that is worth it. Right? They are as joyful as I am about the possibilities. So I believe. I believe from the bottom of my heart that if there is one problem we can solve in this country, it is to ensure that every child can read and that they have the tools they need to live healthy lives and feel that they are seen and heard, whether it's their mental, you know, kind of a health or their physical health can be met. And books help do that. So I am hopeful that through opportunities like this and partnerships like the one we have with Macy's, we can continue to raise awareness, because again, I've never met anybody in my entire career that said, no, Alicia, I just don't think kids should be able to read. Well, if you believe children should be able to read, then we can solve that problem and we can work together. I believe in collective impact. So I am hopeful every day. I wake up every day and I think we can solve problems. We just have to focus on them. And I think we do it through partnerships like the one that we've talked about here today. Wow. Thank you very much. It's incredible. And as you talked about, they are seen and heard and we want to amplify awareness. And thank you very much, Alicia. And as we wrap this up, this has been Hope Starts With Us, a podcast by NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. If you are a parent, a caregiver, an educator, or student, NAMI has back to school resources to help you navigate the return to classrooms. Visit NAMI.org/backtoschool to download those resources today. We will also be adding the resources that was shared by our, guest, Alicia, the CEO of Reading is Fundamental. We're very proud to partner with both Reading is Fundamental and Macy's to support young people across the country. Learn more about this partnership at macys.com/purpose. If you are looking for mental health resources, you are not alone. To connect with the NAMI HelpLine and find local resources, visit NAMI.org/help, text "helpline" to 62640 or dial 800-950-NAMI. Or if you are experiencing an immediate suicide, substance use, or mental health crisis, please call or text 988 to speak with a trained support specialist or visit 988lifeline.org. I'm Dan Gillison, your host. Thanks for listening and be well.