BOARD OF DIRECTORS
RIF NOVA's board members are former or current administrators, teachers, and librarians, small-business owners, community leaders, authors, parents, grandparents, and people interested in promoting literacy. They bring a wide variety of experience to the job of getting books into the hands of children in Northern Virginia. All are volunteers.
The board of directors and its executive committee meet four times a year: September, November, January, and March. An annual end-of-school-year celebration is held in May or June to swear in new officers for the following academic year and to recognize board and community members who have made a significant difference in RIF NOVA's operations.
Please contact us if you're interested in becoming a volunteer board member. New ideas and creativity are so welcome, even if you can devote only a smidge of time! Click here to find our volunteer form.
The board of directors and its executive committee meet four times a year: September, November, January, and March. An annual end-of-school-year celebration is held in May or June to swear in new officers for the following academic year and to recognize board and community members who have made a significant difference in RIF NOVA's operations.
Please contact us if you're interested in becoming a volunteer board member. New ideas and creativity are so welcome, even if you can devote only a smidge of time! Click here to find our volunteer form.
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PRESIDENT: Sarah Bohn
VICE PRESIDENT: Jeanette Cimino RECORDING SECRETARY: Sari Warren CORRESPONDING SECRETARY: Jennifer Held TREASURER: Kathy Rusinski FINANCIAL SECRETARY: Susan Stickles |
BOOK ORDERING CHAIRS: Paula Powell, Elaine Liebesman
COMMUNICATIONS CHAIR: Lisa Keathley DEVELOPMENT CHAIRS: Bradley Vineyard, Sarah Bohn CONTRACTS CHAIR: Nancy King AUTHORS IN OUR SCHOOLS CHAIR: Sari Warren DONATED BOOKS CHAIRS: Justina Johnson, Liz Promen |
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AREA CHAIRS Alexandria Sheryl Leeds, Lisa Keathley Arlington Sari Warren Fairfax East Liz Promen Fairfax West Chris McLaughlin Prince William Nancy King, Carylee Carrington |
AT-LARGE BOARD MEMBERS Jeuli Bartenstein Paul Brandus Hazeline Harris Nadine James Lauren Johnson Sheila Jonas Gayle Kelley Anne-Stuart Kirkhorn Jennifer Morrow Rekha Patel Robin Sofge Lois Toomer |
2024-2025 Reading is Fundamental of NOVA Board Awards
RIF NOVA gives annual awards to those who have contributed in significant ways to the organization's operations and successes.
McNamara Award: The highest honor is the Margaret McNamara Award, named in honor of Reading is Fundamental's founder, Margaret McNamara. Learn more about her history here. This award is given to one individual or organization annually.
Jerry Shelton Award: The Jerry Shelton Award for Longevity of Service is given to a longtime board member who has been actively and continuously involved with RIF NOVA, serving in a variety of ways and continuing to advance the goals of the organization. This award is given to one board member annually.
Special Commendation Award for Outstanding Support of RIF NOVA: This award is made to individuals, groups, or organizations for outstanding support of RIF NOVA. The recognized support can be for a particular program, an event, or for some other activity supporting our mission. There is no limit on the number of Special Commendation Awards given in a specific year.
McNamara Award: The highest honor is the Margaret McNamara Award, named in honor of Reading is Fundamental's founder, Margaret McNamara. Learn more about her history here. This award is given to one individual or organization annually.
Jerry Shelton Award: The Jerry Shelton Award for Longevity of Service is given to a longtime board member who has been actively and continuously involved with RIF NOVA, serving in a variety of ways and continuing to advance the goals of the organization. This award is given to one board member annually.
Special Commendation Award for Outstanding Support of RIF NOVA: This award is made to individuals, groups, or organizations for outstanding support of RIF NOVA. The recognized support can be for a particular program, an event, or for some other activity supporting our mission. There is no limit on the number of Special Commendation Awards given in a specific year.
New board officers were sworn in on May 15, 2025 for the 2025-2026 academic year. From left to right are president Sarah Bohn, corresponding secretary Jennifer Held, financial secretary Susan Stickles (holding flowers), and vice president Jeanette Cimino. Not pictured are recording secretary Sari Warren and treasurer Kathy Rusinski.
The annual McNamara Award was given to Sari Warren, chair of the Authors in Our Schools program, Arlington area chair, and recording secretary. |
The Jerry Shelton Award, named in memory of longtime supporter Jerry Shelton, was given to Liz Promen. She has served the board in many capacities -- as president, in a variety of committee chair roles including the Fairfax East area chair and Donated Book program co-chair, and as a dedicated supporter and inspiring leader who contributes in every way to promote literacy for NOVA kids. Liz is shown (m) with board members Justina Johnson (l) and Nancy King (r).
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2024-2025 Special Commendation Awards were given to:
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Personal initiative --
Gabriella Aldeman Gabriella Aldeman, one of our “Authors in Our Schools,” delighted children at Crestwood and Marumsco Hills schools. She provided to RIF NOVA a translated English to Spanish photo release form, with no compensation requested. This donation of time and effort results in better understanding by parents and better pictures for outreach. Jennifer Culver Jennifer Culver is an administrative assistant at Hutchinson Elementary School. When the 2024-2025 school year started with no librarian, Jennifer took on all the responsibilities of the librarian, scheduled 50+ classrooms for library time, and kept all files up to date. She accomplished this overwhelming task willingly and with grace. Mark Tierney Mark Tierney is the librarian at Polk Elementary in Alexandria. This award is to honor his production of several videos for RIF NOVA using pictures and videos from distributions, which capture the essence and delight of the book distributions. He did this on his own time and with no compensation. His productions have been posted on our website, have been featured in the RIF RAP newsletter, and are used to show our impact to potential funders. |
With Polk ES principal Carla Carter (l), librarian Mark Tierney (r) is shown with his 2024/25 Special Commendation Award for producing several videos of Polk RIF NOVA book distributions and activities.
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Donated Books program initiatives --
Cadence Chen Cadence Chen has held two very successful book drives benefiting RIF NOVA, the most recent of which resulted in 720 books! She also arranged for a book distribution at Braddock Elementary's summer 2024 enrichment program as part of an effort to earn a Girl Scout Silver Award. Cadence has since worked in partnership with Braddock to help their eligibility for the new book program as part of RIF NOVA and set the stage for the students to receive new books on a regular basis. Kevin Davis Kevin Davis has been a dedicated supporter of RIF NOVA's Donated Books program since 2021. He will pick up books on a moment's notice and deliver them wherever they are headed throughout Northern Virginia. Thanks to his reliability, flexibility, and unwavering assistance, thousands of books have reached children all across our region. Tegan Henry and Ava Paparello Tegan and Ava together organized a community and Paul VI high school book drive as part of their school service project. They developed a work plan, incorporating the RIF NOVA guidelines, and vetted the books to meet our condition and age standards. They took pictures, obtained photo releases, and delivered over 500 donated books in ready-for-distribution condition! |
Cadence Chen earned her Girl Scout Silver Award for her year-long initiative to support books and literacy in Northern Virginia.
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Board member initiatives --
Sarah Bohn
Sarah took on the responsibilities and duties of RIF NOVA vice president at the beginning of the 2024-2025 year, with enthusiasm and a willingness to learn. Midway through the year, when disaster struck RIF NOVA’s president, Sarah stepped up to assume the president's responsibilities as well as her own. With grace and countless hours of service, she has kept our organization on course during a year of non-stop activities and initiatives, helping us position for the coming year.
Lisa Keathley
Inspired by the summer Olympics, Lisa single-handedly took on our alternate year fundraising effort by creating the Book Olympics campaign. She developed a story-writing contest, special Olympic content for our website, involved schools – all resulting in over $40,000 in donations. And all of this was done in addition to her already heavy workload as RIF NOVA's communications chair!
Susan Stickles
This year Susan successfully took on the position of financial secretary and then added to that the role of treasurer as well -- more than enough work for two people, Susan has handled both with extraordinary competence and effectiveness. She has also been the driving force behind creating our shareable Google tools, helping establish greater organization and order.
Sarah Bohn
Sarah took on the responsibilities and duties of RIF NOVA vice president at the beginning of the 2024-2025 year, with enthusiasm and a willingness to learn. Midway through the year, when disaster struck RIF NOVA’s president, Sarah stepped up to assume the president's responsibilities as well as her own. With grace and countless hours of service, she has kept our organization on course during a year of non-stop activities and initiatives, helping us position for the coming year.
Lisa Keathley
Inspired by the summer Olympics, Lisa single-handedly took on our alternate year fundraising effort by creating the Book Olympics campaign. She developed a story-writing contest, special Olympic content for our website, involved schools – all resulting in over $40,000 in donations. And all of this was done in addition to her already heavy workload as RIF NOVA's communications chair!
Susan Stickles
This year Susan successfully took on the position of financial secretary and then added to that the role of treasurer as well -- more than enough work for two people, Susan has handled both with extraordinary competence and effectiveness. She has also been the driving force behind creating our shareable Google tools, helping establish greater organization and order.
EMERITUS COUNCIL
JoAnn Abrams
Rita Blodgett
Chris Bury
Pam Jackson
Audrey June
Mia Mason
Ruby Osia
Lynda Johnson Robb
Ramunda Young
JoAnn Abrams
Rita Blodgett
Chris Bury
Pam Jackson
Audrey June
Mia Mason
Ruby Osia
Lynda Johnson Robb
Ramunda Young
