As a published author, our founder, Madi Franquiz, makes regular appearances in schools and libraries all across the country for career days or to host her writers conference. At one particular event in a North Dallas community, she was spending the afternoon with an entire elementary school. Upon the entry of the 3rd grade class, she was approached by one of the teachers. She asked “could you dumb your presentation down for this class?” “Of course” she said, but she was curious. She needed to know more! She told the teacher that she had been strategic in her creation of these programs and made certain that they were age appropriate, at a level that each grade could understand. She lowered her voice and said “Madi, these kids are reading at or below the kindergarten level.” That’s when Madi realized we have a literacy problem that has been exacerbated by the global pandemic, and something had to be done. Madi began looking for opportunities to make a difference for children in literacy.

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As a result of her early childhood experience of living in poverty and her adult experiences serving in Title 1 schools, Madi is a passionate children's literacy advocate, recognized around the world for her philanthropic work. Today, alongside our international partners, Authoring Life is on a mission to ensure that every child, regardless of zip code, has the opportunity to acquire literacy skills and books to become who they were created to be.