Board of Directors
Mary Jane Hender, EdD
Reading Power, Co-Founder
Mary Jane Hender developed and co-founded Reading Power in 2003 after 20 years of teaching students from prekindergarten to masters’ levels. Her concern over the disparity in students’ literacy opportunities between North Chicago and neighboring school districts motivated her to form Reading Power. Mary Jane served as Reading Power’s first Executive Director, has been on the Board of Directors since 2003, and is a past board vice-chairman. Mary Jane also serves on the board of the Spring Island Trust, an environmental nonprofit in South Carolina. She is now the Site Coordinator for the Reading Power program at Joseph Shanklin Elementary School in Beaufort, S.C.
