social good for society Archives - Page 2 of 7

Published April 20, 2015

Bookshare Volunteers Rock!

On this Volunteer Recognition Day, we thank our volunteers who make Bookshare the best it can be. Bookshare and Benetech, our parent nonprofit, are so fortunate to have the generous support from volunteers around the world. You are positively impacting people with print disabilities, and we appreciate your life-size contributions! In this blog, let’s catch up on the latest and greatest from the Bookshare volunteer community. Congratulations to Marcus Garner! Did you know that every year through the Mayrie ReNae Scholarship Fund, Bookshare provides a free membership for someone in need? Mayrie is remembered for her volunteer work and valuable…

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Published March 23, 2015

Canada Reads with Bookshare!

Calling all Canadians…do you love to read a good story? How about 225,000 amazing stories, all available at your fingertips for FREE? Canadians with qualified print disabilities can easily access all the latest ebooks, like NYPD Red 2 by James Patterson, Oprah’s Book Club titles, like I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb, and CBC Canada Reads books, like When Everything Feels Like the Movies by Raziel Reid. Free ebooks—How Is This Possible? The Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) partnered with Bookshare, the world’s largest accessible online library for people with print disabilities, to offer a…

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Published March 13, 2015

Navigate Dyslexia with These Recommended Books for Parents!

Are you a parent of a child with a print disability, like dyslexia? As part of our efforts to support parents in navigating their child’s learning differences, here are two helpful books that were written specifically for parents by people with dyslexia. Ben Foss, dyslexia advocate and well-known author, wrote The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan: A Blueprint for Renewing Your Child’s Confidence and Love of Learning to help families build a pathway to independence for children with dyslexia. Here is Ben’s three-step process: Identify your child’s strengths. Share those strengths with school administrators and educators. Explore technologies that will help your…

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Published March 9, 2015

Born Accessible and the New Golden Age of Inclusive Education

Betsy Beaumon’s Keynote at the 52nd Annual Learning Disabilities Association of America Conference. First published on the Benetech website on February 25, 2015. Rapid advances in technology are remaking the content landscape and have made it possible to get more content, in more ways, to more people. Will the digital revolution usher in a golden age of access to books and information for people who cannot use standard print, such as those affected by dyslexia and other learning disabilities? Benetech President Betsy Beaumon posed this challenge in her keynote address at the opening of the 52nd Annual Conference of the…

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Published March 2, 2015

Oh, The Places You’ll Go With Bookshare!

“Will you succeed? Yes, you will indeed. (98 and 3⁄4% guaranteed!)” – Dr. Seuss This positive message is one of the best known lines from the Dr. Seuss classic, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” This uplifting book is an all-time favorite of both children and adults and is the featured title for this year’s Read Across America Day. We celebrate this national event by encouraging all Bookshare members and book lovers everywhere to read this wonderful story. Read it yourself. Read it with a friend. Read it with your child. Read it to the end. The story reminds us of…

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Published February 18, 2015

Benetech Wins All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development Grant to Improve Literacy for Primary School Students with Disabilities in India

This article was originally posted on Benetech’s blog on February 5, 2015. We are delighted to share that USAID, World Vision, and the Australian Government awarded Benetech a 2015 grant to improve literacy for primary school students who are blind in India. The new grant, under the three partners’ All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development literacy innovations competition, funds our proposed winning project to provide Indian students who are blind with mother tongue instruction and reading materials through Bookshare, our digital library of accessible books. This supports Benetech’s commitment to extend the benefits of Bookshare across borders to…

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Published February 7, 2015

Bookshare and Benetech Take Center Stage at LDA 2015!

We are very excited about the upcoming Learning Disabilities Association (LDA) 2015 Conference in Chicago. Why? Because we get to meet you, our members and supporters! Make sure that you attend these must-see events: Hear Betsy Beaumon, President of Benetech, Bookshare’s parent nonprofit, deliver the opening keynote titled Will the Current Tech Revolution Usher in a Golden Age for All Learners? on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 8:30 AM. Learn how to increase collaboration by attending the Bookshare session, Parents and Schools Working Together for Accessible Content, on Wednesday, February 18, 4:45–5:45 PM, Room W39. Learn how you can help…

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Published January 31, 2015

Celebrate and Learn About Black History with These Awesome Titles!

February is Black History Month, when we celebrate the achievements of African Americans and honor the generations of people who struggled to achieve equality in American society. Did you know that black history is also celebrated in other countries like Canada and the United Kingdom? In this blog, we have collected a number of worthy titles, many written by black authors*, that you can use in your classroom, read with your child, or read on your own. Titles for Younger Readers by Grades Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine True story of an ingenious man who mailed himself to freedom.…

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Published January 28, 2015

Benetech Names New President, COO to Massively Grow Social Impact

Benetech, the parent organization of Bookshare just announced the appointments of Betsy Beaumon as president and Mark Roberts as chief operating officer. Founder Jim Fruchterman continues as Benetech’s chief executive officer, evangelizing Benetech and advancing the technology-for-good field. The goal of the senior appointments is to increase Benetech’s social impact at scale and its capacity to create new social enterprises that use technology to deliver social good. Through its recently launched technological innovation arm, Benetech Labs, Benetech has been increasingly focused on developing business models, partnerships, and technologies that deliver new solutions to unmet social needs while also implementing and…

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Published January 26, 2015

Donor Spotlight: Lavelle Fund for the Blind

What is it like for a nonprofit to have a successful, lasting partnership with a private philanthropic foundation? And what are some of the social benefits and impact that may result from such a relationship?At Benetech, we’re fortunate to have had long-time support from funders who have been willing to bet on us. One foundation that has been a committed supporter of our work is the Lavelle Fund for the Blind. I’d like to share our experience with Lavelle, where they took a series of calculated risks in grantmaking.The Lavelle Fund exemplifies the tremendous social return that bold philanthropy can…

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Category: social good for society