We are so excited to announce a new addition to the Words Alive team: our new Program Director, Melinda Cooper! Read on to learn more about Melinda and her drive to join the Words Alive team!
Melinda joins Words Alive with years of experience in nonprofit management, mindfulness, and arts-based programs, specifically for children and young adults. She has a degree from the University of Virginia and is a certified Project Management Professional, Scrum Master, and soon-to-be Associate Professional of Human Resources. Her past work includes serving as Co-Producer of the International Shakespeare in Prisons Conference, a board member of The Mind Body Project, and managing nonprofit programs locally at The Old Globe Theater and A Reason to Survive (ARTS). Melinda enjoys writing, museum dates, walks, and live music in her free time.
Now, a few words from Melinda!
What intrigued you about Words Alive? Why did you want to join the team?
Professionally, I am focused on access. How to create pathways to it, how to cultivate it, how to advocate for it. Personally, I am preoccupied with books. I experience reading as both a revolutionary act of pleasure and of personal liberty.
Words Alive naturally piqued my interest not only because of the urgency of its mission (California has the lowest statewide literacy rate in the nation) but also because of its obvious commitment to rigorous program analysis. As a certified project management professional, it is my ethical responsibility to uphold project management principles and practices wherever I go.
Words Alive felt like a great fit for me. We have a shared love of access, books, and process! What more can a person ask for?!
What are you most excited about in your new position?
Honestly, just getting to work every day with some of the most caring, focused, creative people I have ever encountered. These folks are passionate about connecting young people and their families to the power of reading, and they each do their work with their whole heart every single day. I have a lot to learn from them.
What is your relationship with literacy and learning?
I mentioned earlier that I believe reading is a revolutionary act in two ways: both as a form of radical pleasure and of personal liberty. In a society that values output, achievement, and compliance, reading offers human beings an opportunity to slow down and expand. “Once you learn to read, you will forever be free,” wrote Frederick Douglass.
What are you currently reading?
Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus, as well as a nonfiction book called Crucial Conversations. I have 2 small kids, so I listen to a lot of audiobooks as they are more accessible for me than physical books. The library app called Libby has been a hero-figure in my reading life. I also use Audible and Google Play, but with Libby everything is totally free. I wish everyone knew about it!