Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation

“Neil bush, chair, and maria bush, director, are husband and wife.”

“The organization's bylaws were amended to clarify that it is the organization's board of directors that may select other organizations or entities to receive support as part of its mission to support the greater houston community foundation. The bylaws were also amended to establish a finance committee.”

“The organization has as its sole member, the greater houston community foundation, a texas nonprofit corporation. The following matters are reserved to the member and shall require the affirmative actions of the member to be effective: (a) merger, acquisition or consolidation of the corporation; (b) borrowing or lending of money or the creation of indebtedness through the guaranty of another's debt or similar action; (c) removal, at any time, in its sole discretion, with or without cause, one or more members (each a "director") of the board of directors of the corporation (the "board or "board of directors"); and (d) imposing any restriction on the corporation for any activity or transaction that would result in the loss by the corporation of its status as an organization exempt from federal income taxation under section 501(a) of the code, or corresponding provisions hereafter in effect.”

“The decisions that require affirmative action of the member are detailed in the above answer to part vi, line 6.”

“The organization does not have any committee with authority to act on behalf of the governing body.”

“The final document was distributed to the governing board for review prior to filing. The controller and tax manager of the greater houston community foundation review the 990. Upon the resolution of any questions raised by these individuals and any changes that result from this review, the completed document is then distributed to the president and key staff of the barbara bush houston literacy foundation for their review. Once reviewed by the key staff at the barbara bush houston literacy foundation and changes are made, a finalized copy is provided to the president of bbhlf for final review and approval prior to distribution to the governing board.”

“The barbara bush houston literacy foundation board of directors submitted a conflict of interest disclosure statement at the annual board meeting. Board of directors will complete a conflict of interest form annually (or upon the occasion that a conflict arises).”

“The barbara bush houston literacy foundation orders a compensation report from insperity showing job descriptions, compensation, and representative pay rates for the labor market. The market data is reviewed and approved by the board and properly documented in meeting minutes. Additionally, the foundation's president has been granted full permission by the board of directors to hire at her discretion.”

“Form 990 is available online; other documents are available upon request.”

“Copies of the certificate of formation, bylaws, and conflict of interest policy may be obtained by calling the office. The organization's financials are not separately audited. A copy of the consolidated audited financials for the related organization, the greater houston community foundation, may be requested by calling the office.”

“The foundation utilized the time and talents of 764 core volunteers in 2024. These volunteers came from board members (11), auxiliary groups (442), interns (1), and volunteers supporting my home library, reading round up, camp adventure and other foundation programs (310).”

“The foundation is leading the way and taking action to reverse the disastrous social and economic impacts caused by the vicious cycle of low literacy in our city. We envision a thriving city in which every person possesses the literacy skills needed to reach his or her full potential in life, and the cycle of low literacy and poverty among families comes to an end. To this end, the foundation focuses on five key imperitives: (1) increasing access to books in the home for low-income children. (2) expanding access to out-of-school time and in-school reading intervention programs for students who are reading below grade level. (3) supporting parents as their child's first and most important teachers through high-quality family literacy programs and resources (4) giving adults a second chance to gain the functional literacy skills needed to fully engage in the workplace and participate in society. And (5) engaging volunteers in purposeful and meaningful service opportunities. We champion the literacy cause in houston and bring together cross-sector leaders in a collective impact approach to leverage resources and advance our common goal of increasing literacy rates. The foundation has led the development of two community blueprints, one focused primarily on youth and a second on adult literacy rates. We support several evidence-based literacy programs: (1) my home library provides new books to low-income preschool through grade 5 children. (2) curiosity cruiser mobile library initiative is a partnership with harris county library in which 4 mobile libraries visit children ages 4-15 to provide them books to read and keep, as well as access to 90-minute after-school and summer programs in stem and reading. Programming is provided to children in low-income communities at affordable housing communities, government-subsidized apartment complexes and community centers. (3) family place libraries is a national program in which an area within public library branches are transformed into dynamic learning centers for families with children below age five and library staff are certified to provide workshops and supports that lead to increased kindergarten reading readiness. (4) barbara's book boxes are little free libraries that are installed in high-need neighborhoods and regularly stocked with books for children and adults to access. (5) reading roundup is a volunteer-led, classroom-based reading program in which the foundation provides curated picture books and resource guides for volunteers to use to build vocabulary, increase reading comprehension, boost critical thinking skills, and inspire a love of reading. The program takes place in elementary schools across houston. (6) success through adult reading is a program aimed at expanding access to programming that helps adults earn a ged, learn english, gain digital literacy skills, and develop core reading and writing skills. (7) camp adventure is a summer learning program that integrates reading with science, technology, engineering, art, and math. The program runs for four weeks and is a partnership among children's museum houston and the houston independent school district. Volunteers support the hands-on activities and experiments alongside certified teachers. (8) read and rise is a scholastic program which we invest in with the houston area urban league. Read and rise workshops are provided to parents of preschool and elementary students so that they gain the confidence and competence to support their child's early literacy success. Participating parents receive materials and books to use at home. (9) raising a reader is a program that empowers new mothers with information about brain development and early learning and resources they can use at home to support their baby's healthy development. Nurses at partner hospitals consult with parents and give resources before they are discharged post delivery of their new baby. (10) science of reading in action is a program that provides kin”

“The barbara bush houston literacy foundation is a co-employer with insperity through the woodway supporting foundation 13 and does not file form w-3. Insperity files this form under its tax identification number.”

“There were no changes to the oversight process or the selection process from prior years.”