Media Contact: Anel Mercado, anel.mercado@readfortworth.org
For immediate release:
Fort Worth (Aug. 31, 2018) – Read Forth Worth announced that Anel Mercado, former director of programs at Arizona Center for Youth Services, has been named Read Fort Worth’s next Executive Director.
Mercado will assume the new role Sept. 5 and will lead the dynamic cross-sector Read Fort Worth partnership into the next phase of the project. She succeeds founding executive director Kristin Sullivan.
Anel Mercado
“I am truly excited to join the Fort Worth community and lock arms with the Read Forth Worth leadership, partners and team to continue and grow the work that has been established,” Mercado said.
The partnership was founded in 2016 by Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Kent P. Scribner, business, civic and philanthropic leaders to align partners in support of the district’s 100x25FWTX Initiative and our shared goal that 100 percent of third-graders will be reading on grade level by 2025. Matt Rose, executive chairman of BNSF Railway, serves as chairman of Read Fort Worth’s 11-member Executive Committee.
“We are looking forward to the energy and experience that Anel Mercado will bring to Read Fort Worth,” Rose said, “and are truly grateful to Kristin Sullivan for her hard work and dedication that was essential to get us where we are now, poised for continued growth and success.”
Price has made quality early childhood education a key focus area for the city. She said: “Anel Mercado is the right leader to continue our important work with Read Fort Worth, and I am thrilled to welcome her to our community.”
Mercado was selected following an extensive, national search this summer that culminated in identifying the individual with the experience and knowledge that Read Fort Worth leaders have identified as key to the continued success of the initiative.
“Thanks to our founding executive director, we’ve laid a strong foundation for success,” Dr. Scribner said. “We will now build upon that and look forward to working with Anel Mercado and Read Fort Worth to reach our 100×25 goal.”
Mercado has a passion and extensive experience for serving the community in various roles, from mentoring youth and other emerging leaders to engaging key stakeholders at all levels to create avenues for systems change.
No stranger to the dynamic collective impact work, Mercado served as the director of Phoenix-based Thriving Together, a multifaceted partnership serving as a catalyst bringing together different sectors of the community and along the educational continuum to strive for better results in education, for every child, youth and young adult from cradle to career.
She relocated to Phoenix from Seattle where she served as an educator consultant for the Public Health Department, developing and implementing strategies to reduce health disparities for the Latino community by addressing access to care issues at community and systemic levels. Mercado has served on various community nonprofit boards, commissions and is a long-standing supporter of the national Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. She received her Bachelor of Science in Social Sciences and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Washington.
Read Fort Worth is an important initiative with broad community support, and the Executive Council is excited about the addition of Anel Mercado to the leadership team and the possibilities of the future direction of the partnership.
About Read Fort Worth
Read Fort Worth is the privately-funded, locally-controlled backbone organization formed to coordinate cross-sector, collective impact efforts to ensure that 100 percent of third-graders are reading on grade level by 2025. Read Fort Worth exists to provide unique, actionable data; to organize and align partners under the shared 100×25 goal; to develop strategies for significant improvement, and to communicate best practices and drive results. For more information, visit www.ReadFortWorth.org. View our inaugural Community Achievement Scorecard at http://readfortworth.org/2017-community-achievement-scorecard/.