DOnate

Our People

Our Staff

David Weinstein

Founder & Executive Director,
Joyful Readers

Emily DeCarlo

Program Operations Director

Nichelle Morgan

Literacy Director

Sarah DeLucas

Development Director

Aiyana Belguda

Literacy Coach

Anne Murray

Literacy Coach

Jesse Grant-Skinner

Literacy Coach

Aurora M. Pomales

Recruitment and Admissions Coordinator

Our Board

David Weinstein

Founder & Executive Director,
Joyful Readers

Antonio J. Burrell

Associate General Counsel,
Snipes USA

Tim Galaz

Manager,
PwC Exempt Organization Tax Services

Amanda Gamble

Chief Service Officer,
City of Philadelphia

Sharon Marino

Founder & Principal,
Marigold Educational Coaching and Consulting

Brittney Matyas

Director,
PwC Cyber, Risk and Regulatory Practice

Virgil Sheppard

President/CEO,
Hope Partnership for Education

Barry Silver

Former Managing Director in Risk Solutions,
MUFG

Joyful Readers Inc is a US tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (Tax ID Number: 86-2200001). Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.

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Copyright © Joyful Readers 2021

David Weinstein

David Weinstein is the founder of Joyful Readers. His parents will tell you that he entered kindergarten claiming he would never learn to read, but by 2nd grade he was voraciously consuming Goosebumps books faster than R.L. Stine could write them. David attended public schools his whole life, and is a graduate of the College of New Jersey, where he could often be found working in the college’s tutoring center. In 2007, he moved to Philadelphia to do a year of AmeriCorps service with City Year, spending a life-changing year working at Kensington High School. That 1-year program turned into a 15-year career, with David ultimately managing all of City Year’s school-based services. His experiences (and the research!) inspired his belief that well-trained and well-supported AmeriCorps members can make a tremendous difference in the lives of students.

Emily DeCarlo

Emily DeCarlo is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 10 years of non-profit experience. She’s worked in youth-serving organizations doing direct service work and serving as a Client Services Director and a Program Director. Her areas of focus include program development, implementation and evaluation, grant management, culturally-responsive best practices for inclusive organizations, and non-profit finances. Emily has over a decade of experience implementing evidence-based programs in school and community-based settings including but not limited to: Positive Action, Healthy Families, and Communities That Care. Emily has served on the Phi Sigma Sigma National Housing Corporation Board as Vice President since 2018, is a member of the NASW-PA Workforce Development Committee, and she was a New Leaders Council Fellow in 2022. As a child, she was an avid reader, and made her way through most of the books in her Elementary School’s library. She loves reading to her two young kids, particularly Red: A Crayon’s Story and anything by Mo Willems.

Nichelle Morgan

Nichelle Morgan is the Founding Literacy Director at Joyful Readers. With over ten years of experience, she believes in empowering students and teachers to be the best version of themselves. She completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Teaching degrees at Howard University. Her roles as a classroom teacher, literacy coach, and equity-minded leader have aided the formation of her specialty area: literacy-focused education, teacher empowerment, and providing exceptional professional development to the nation’s urban schools. Nichelle is determined to provide quantifiable positive changes within education. She is deeply committed to utilizing her expertise in culturally relevant classroom practices and empathetic coaching strategies to bring about individual liberation and empowerment. Nichelle’s resiliency drives her passion to dismantle educational inequities and ensure all students have equal access to resources. Her favorite childhood books are Amber Brown is Not a Crayon and Holes.

Sarah DeLucas

Sarah DeLucas is the Development Director at Joyful Readers. With over 20 years of professional experience in relationship development and community engagement, Sarah has a keen ability to foster deep and meaningful connections with corporate partners, local businesses, and community organizations, propelling her success in both the corporate and non-profits sectors. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sarah spent over 15 years at the helm of Major League Bocce, a national social sports organization with leagues operating in over 14 cities. Since the pandemic, she has found great personal & professional satisfaction driving revenue for mission-focused organizations at the National MS Society and the American Heart Association. Her goal is to use her marketing savvy, interpersonal sales techniques, and entrepreneurial spirit to drive both financial and community support to the Joyful Readers mission to improve childhood literacy throughout Philadelphia. Her favorite childhood books were James and the Giant Peach and the Nancy Drew series.

Aiyana Belguda

Aiyana is an educational advocate, trusted leader, and a compassionate teacher. Throughout her career, her focus has been to serve children and families who are often overlooked and deemed “voiceless”. Her journey in education began in 2001 when her father, a retired Philadelphia School Police Officer, urged her to spend the summer working with the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools program. Her experience providing reading and cultural enrichment to youth enrolled in the program sparked a lifelong passion serving students in need. In 2009, she completed her M.Ed. in Special Education from Arcadia University and has spent the past 15 years working with vulnerable student populations in Philadelphia and Washington, DC. Aiyana is excited to continue her work in providing equity in education and making an impact in the youth literacy space with Joyful Readers. As a child, Aiyana loved reading nonfiction books about culture and history.  

Anne Murray

Anne’s passion for early-childhood education first began 9 years ago, when she served as a Literacy Interventionist through the AmeriCorps program at the Literacy Lab in Washington, DC. After her year of service was complete, she joined Literacy Lab’s full-time staff overseeing the communications and program operations at various schools throughout the DC metro region. Impressed with her colleagues’ dedication and efforts in the education sector, Anne decided to pursue her M.S.Ed. in Elementary Education at UPenn. After graduating, she spent the next five years with the School District of Philadelphia as an elementary teacher and reading interventionist. It was at John Moffet Elementary School that Anne first came across Joyful Readers and saw first-hand the impact of Joyful Readers, leading her to pursue the role of Literacy Coach. Anne was a huge fan of To Give a Mouse a Cookie and The Boxcar Children series as an elementary school student.

Jesse Grant-Skinner

Jesse is an accomplished educator with 11 years of experience in early childhood education. His career began as a Capital Teaching Resident with KIPP DC. After six years in the classroom, Jesse moved into an administrator role, spending the next five years as the Assistant Vice Principal. Jesse believes that student growth has no limits and is excited to implement effective, targeted and joyful instruction methods that unlock student’s reading potential. Born and raised in Baltimore, MD, urban education has been the main driver of Jesse’s purpose and passion throughout his career. Jesse’s favorite children’s books are Corduroy and The Rainbow Fish.  

Aurora M. Pomales

Aurora M. Pomales is the Recruitment and Admissions Coordinator at Joyful Readers. Growing up in North Philadelphia, she would often come home from school to piles of books that her mother would borrow for her from the library. This ignited her love and passion for reading, despite having dyslexia, and taught her the valuable lesson that anyone can learn to love reading with the right encouragement and support. After graduating from La Salle University with a B.A. in Art History, Aurora spent the next five years in the education field in various roles including Lead Art Teacher and High School Mentor. With her experience in educating Philadelphia youth of diverse backgrounds, Aurora sought to find a space that would combat the struggles often faced in education, especially surrounding reading. This led her to Joyful Readers, where she hopes to continue to make a difference in the lives of students across Philadelphia. As a child, Aurora loved to read anything creepy or scary, including an all-time favorite novel, Bunnicula; she also borrowed Alfred Hitchcock’s Anthology from her elementary school library so often that the librarian gifted her the book once she graduated.

Antonio J. Burrell

Antonio is Associate General Counsel of Snipes USA, a 300-store sneaker and streetwear retailer. Prior to Snipes, Antonio was an attorney in Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation’s (PHDC’s) legal department where he represented PHDC, the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority and the Philadelphia Land Bank, supporting government initiatives and public-private partnerships for the development and growth of the City, with the goal of primarily benefitting moderate and low-income Philadelphians. Before PHDC, Antonio served as an Assistant City Solicitor in the Philadelphia Law Department’s Real Estate and Development Unit, supporting the City’s economic development initiatives, and representing City departments including Philadelphia’s Departments of Public Property and Parks & Recreation. Antonio began his career as a litigator with Blank Rome LLP, representing clients in complex commercial and civil litigation matters. A native of Southwest Philadelphia, Antonio graduated from Villanova Law School in 2013. His favorite book growing up was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Tim Galaz

Tim is a Manager with PwC’s Exempt Organizations Tax Services practice, based in Philadelphia. Tim provides tax compliance and consulting services to a variety of tax-exempt organizations, including hospitals and health systems, education institutions, and various tax-exempt trusts. A native of Tucson, Arizona, Tim received a BA in Studio Art from University of Arizona before relocating to Philadelphia to serve as a City Year, AmeriCorps member. After AmeriCorps service, Tim received a JD from Villanova University School of Law. His favorite childhood book was the B.F.G. by Roald Dahl

Amanda Gamble

An AmeriCorps alum of both City Year and VISTA, Amanda Gamble has devoted her life to serving and creating positive change for Philadelphia’s communities. Amanda has worked for the City of Philadelphia for almost a decade and currently oversees the Mayor’s Office of Civic Engagement and Volunteer Service as the City’s Chief Service Officer. Throughout her career, Amanda has strived to make best practices in civic engagement, volunteering, and National Service programs more accessible through community education efforts like the Civic Engagement Academy and establishing new AmeriCorps programs like the Community Resource Corps. Amanda is excited to serve as a board member of Joyful Readers and to continue to expand National Service Programs in Philadelphia while connecting students to invaluable literary skills. Amanda has always been an avid reader herself — as a child, she reveled in the joys of reading and was a frequent visitor to the local library, where her mother would encourage filling up a weekly laundry basket full of books! Today, she keeps up that tradition with her own nephews, reading old favorites like The Whingdingdilly by Bill Peet.

Sharon Marino

Sharon is Founder and Principal of Marigold Educational Coaching and Consulting LLC, an independent practice that serves school systems and educational nonprofits. In this role, she leverages 20+ years of experience with the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), where she built programs to improve access and outcomes for students and families. In her recent role as a Principal, she secured “Community School” designation from the Mayor’s Office of Children and Families. In addition, the school was awarded “Overall School Progress Report Highest Three-Year Improvement” in 2019—2020 after moving from “Intervene” status in 2015—2016 to “Reinforce” status in 2018—2019. Sharon also secured numerous local, state and federal grants, including the “Good to Great Early Literacy Grant” ($45K). A native of southwest Philadelphia, Sharon holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Rosemont College, a Masters in Elementary Education from St. Joseph’s University, ESL (English as a Second Language) Certification from Penn State Abington, Principal (K-12) Certification from Cheyney University, and is a certified 200-hour Yoga/SEL teacher. Beyond her consulting practice, she promotes equity in education through her service on the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit Board, the Colonial School District Board and the Colonial Area Anti-Racism Social Equity Alliance (CAARSEA). Sharon is also a member of the Neubauer Fellowship’s Philadelphia Academy of School Leaders. Sharon enjoys traveling, cooking, yoga, reading, and spending time with her husband, father, siblings, and 14 nieces and nephews. Her favorite childhood book was The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein.

Brittney Matyas

Brittney is a Director with PwC’s Cyber, Risk and Regulatory practice, based in Philadelphia. Brittney provides Internal Audit, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and risk management consulting services to both public and private clients in varying industries. Her focus is around helping companies identify and mitigate financial, compliance, and operation risks. Brittney lives in New Jersey and received a BS in Business Administration from Drexel University. She is a licensed CPA in the state of Pennsylvania. As a mom of 3, she spends tons of time reading both to and with her children. Her favorite childhood book was the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.

Virgil Sheppard

Virgil currently serves as the President/CEO of Hope Partnership for Education, a non-profit organization located in the Fairhill Section of North Philadelphia whose mission is to empower the community through education. Prior to Hope, Virgil served as the National School Partnerships Director for City Year, where he was responsible for developing a partnership strategy that maximized school and student outcomes. Virgil got his start in education while working for the School District of Philadelphia’s Behavioral Team, overseeing the Comprehensive Student Assistance Process for 40 schools, and serving as a middle school administrator in the most diverse and second largest middle school in Philadelphia. During this time, Virgil oversaw the first Response to Instructional Intervention (RTII) pilot for the School District of Philadelphia, identifying evidenced-based strategies and intervention programs while providing technical assistance to school-based RTII teams to ensure strong student support services infrastructure. Virgil is a proud West Philadelphia native who caught the education bug while serving as a coach, mentor, and tutor for the Panthers Youth Development Corporation, a community-based organization that provides year-round programming for 300 students in West Philadelphia. Virgil holds a bachelor’s degree from Temple University and a master’s degree from Cheyney University. His favorite childhood book is Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

Barry Silver

Barry joins Joyful Readers after a 40-year career in banking and financial markets and believes that education is the smartest investment a society can make. He retired from global leader MUFG Bank’s New York-based Corporate and Investment Bank, where he was a Managing Director in Risk Solutions, serving domestic and multinational clients in the US and Canada. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Barry feels lucky to have been born, raised, and very well educated in the Philadelphia area. After some years in Brooklyn and Tokyo, he settled in Connecticut with his wife Akiko, a violinist and teacher. They have two adult children. Barry has served on the boards of Connecticut Swimming, Inc. and the Norwalk Symphony Society. He was also an elected representative in his town’s legislature. Barry is a very joyful and relentless reader, a music (mainly jazz) obsessive, a boisterous Philly sports fan, and an awkward but enthusiastic skier. One unforgettable book from his childhood is Norton Juster’s “The Phantom Tollbooth” and there were many magic moments reading “The Chronicles of Prydain” series by Lloyd Alexander to his kids when they were little.