Beth Duda

Since May of 2015, Beth Duda has been one of the driving forces of the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (SCGLR). SCGLR is a Florida four-county effort in Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota counties to help children from birth through 3rd grade, especially those from asset-limited families, succeed in life by ensuring they read on grade level. As the director of SCGLR, Beth works closely with local lead partners— Community Foundation of Sarasota County, United Way Suncoast, and United Way of Charlotte County—to drive progress in the region. To embed lasting change, the future-focused partners strive to collaborate with every sector: people, business, nonprofits, government, and the media. Multiple Pacesetter Honors from the national Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (annually since 2014) affirm the success of SCGLR’s collaborative effort and its work. Pacesetter Honors highlight communities that make measurable progress on key indicators of early school success, including early literacy and school readiness, chronic absenteeism and its effects on reading progress, and mitigating summer learning loss by connecting children with quality educational opportunities and programs. Beth is a proud member of Leadership Florida’s Education Class IV, a statewide community of leaders working for a better Florida. She has written, co-written, and created several one-act plays performed for thousands of school-aged children. Recently, she used her playwriting skills to write Abraham Lincoln & Frederick Douglass, A Walk to Respect, which The Patterson Foundation produced in partnership with Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe as part of TPF’s 10th-anniversary celebration, Honoring & Onward. An award-winning playwright and educator, Beth spent more than twenty years working with students and educators in elementary schools as part of the Education Department of Florida Studio Theatre. These experiences fueled her commitment to deepening community connections to improve reading proficiency in our region and beyond. In her twenty-plus years of arts education, Beth’s sensitive and visionary education and learning approach continues to inspire students, parents, and educators. Beth was raised in Central New York and received her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from SUNY-Oswego.