WHY LITERACY MATTERED TO ROSIE...
Rosie came to Australia as a toddler from Austria. She was streetwise, but with a troubled home life, her English literacy wasn’t strong.
When she fell pregnant, she didn’t want the ability to read to hold her son back, so she started reading with him every day.
To her son Rick, she was his reading hero, but little did he know that she was improving her own literacy at the same time.
Rosie gave her son the gift of reading, imagination and a readiness to learn - but she also grew her own reading ability and vocabulary through thousands of moments of shared reading just by being a few words ahead.
Together with evidence-based programs like the Australian edition of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, we know that every Tasmanian can be a child’s reading hero too.
meet our VOLUNTEER board
We’re dedicated to making an impact on Tasmanian literacy, but we won’t solve it in a year, or five… For that reason we’ve assembled a volunteer board who are skilled and focused on building a strong and trusted organisation that makes a measurable impact in the lives of children, their families and our community as a whole.
Rick Marton GAICD
Chair
Rotarian, Business Strategist, Chair of Speak Up Stay ChatTY!, Recent President and Director of Relationships Australia Tasmania
Ray Mostogl GAICD
Vice Chair
CEO Tasmanian Minerals, Manufacturing & Energy Council, Director of HILT CRC and Advisor to X-Hemp
Sarah Merridew AM FAICD
Treasurer
Australia Medal for work in Governance in both listed and community organisations including Mystate, TasNetworks, TasRail and RFDS Tasmania
Ashley McPherson
Director (Literacy + Evaluation)
Principal Blackmans Bay Primary School and State Director Australian Literacy Educators’ Association and member of the Australian Book Selection Committee for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
Eric Gooi
Director (People + Teams)
People and Culture Manager at OneCare, Secretary / Vice-Chair at Thrive Group Tasmania Inc and Board Member of the Launceston Community Legal Centre.
Jade Howard
Secretary (Community)
Intensive Care Paramedic, Ambulance Tasmania and Mum of 2 ‘Early Years’ Children with skills in project management and a special interest in community development.
Kirsty Dunphey GAICD
Director (Ambassadors)
Passionate about literacy, Kirsty is an award-winning businesswoman across multiple businesses, including real estate and mortgage broking. Kirsty is a huge bookworm and understands the power of literacy to change lives.
The Board is supported by Linda Harrison in a volunteer accountancy role and the support of over 40 Tasmanians across health, education, justice, community and inclusion.
Our Guiding Principle: Never make a promise you can’t afford to keep.
For this reason, we build our programs to be replicatable, scalable and sustainable.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO VOLUNTEER?
We’re often needing people to assist in community engagement as we take our message across Tasmania, encouraging more parents to read with their children every day!
Please send an email to hello@rosiesreading.org or via Facebook or Instagram to let us know how you might like to help - this may be as volunteer events crew, public reading programs or simply letterboxing when we launch into new areas. All volunteers are required to hold a valid Working with Vulnerable People card.
“This program will change lives, and those lives will change communities.”
- Leanne McLean, Former Commissioner for Children and Young People and Director of Peter Underwood Centre for Educational Attainment