It’s a rare morning when a retired corporate CEO goes on a talk show to promote early childhood education and discusses the 30 million word gap. Joe Echevarria, former Deloitte CEO, is leading the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, which strives to address the opportunity gap among minority males.

While the goals of My Brother’s Keeper is to support all men of color, from birth through adulthood, Mr. Echevarria spoke of the importance of beginning at the beginning.  He asks – when poor children have heard 30 million fewer words than their middle and upper class cohort by the age of 3, how do we imagine they will compete when they enter kindergarten at 5? Great question Joe… maybe we offer support to their parents whose only wish is that their children grow up safe and succeed in life!

I am so pleased to hear this message from Mr. Echevarria as it is the same message that Raising A Reader MA is addressing with young families across the Commonwealth.  It is crucial to expose children of all races, color, and social and economic backgrounds to language and literacy activities early, well before they reach kindergarten, to foster future academic success.

As I reflect on my tenure at Raising A Reader MA, I am thrilled to see the 30 million word gap message spreading. My hope is that with raised awareness, enhanced support of all programs that are addressing this critical issue will follow. In fact, other corporate partners are already joining in the effort to the tune of $85 million dollars!

With this kind of support and leadership in place I will be watching closely to see how the initiative unfolds.  But when a CEO speaks passionately about the injustice of the 30 million word gap and his urgency to create parity on national television, I am feeling more than a little hopeful.