Our Mission is to ensure no Bay Area student will be held back by lack of literacy.

“I’ve never seen her in a class where she was this excited.”

– Parent of a 2021 CRB 3rd grader

How We’ll Get There
– And How You Can Be a Part of It

For 27 years, Community Reading Buddies has been mobilizing Bay Area young adults to mentor younger students in literacy and ignite them with a passion for reading. In turn, the young adults are trained in social-emotional skills that prepare them to become successful, independent community members.

After the impact of COVID, 245,000 Bay Area K-3rd graders are now behind grade level in literacy. If they do not reach grade level by the end of 3rd grade, they are four times less likely to graduate high school.

But Bay Area youth are stepping up to meet that need.

With a long waitlist of dedicated Bay Area high school mentors and a proven virtual model, Community Reading Buddies is positioned to help thousands of Bay Area elementary students get on the right track in their early years.

Together we can close the early literacy gap in the Bay Area

Students First

In everything we do, our top priority is to empower our students to grow in confidence, competence, and grit. We make every decision and measure every outcome based on how well it prepares our students for college, career, and a life of learning.

Continuous Learning

Education doesn’t stop with our students. As an organization, we seek out feedback from a diverse range of sources and take informed risks to improve our impact towards educational equity.

Fighting for Equality

CRB exists to fight for educational equity alongside our partners and community leaders. We’re dedicated to interrupting patterns of inequity in our community, with the shared vision that all young people should have the opportunity for equally high outcomes no matter where they start in life.