The National Celebration of Reading brings together members of the Bush family, bestselling authors and entertainers, and special guests to advance the work of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. This signature event at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., raises support for nationwide literacy programs and increases awareness of our country’s literacy crisis.

Learn more about the National Celebration of Reading here.

Mrs. Kristi Rogers

Kristi Rogers is currently the managing partner and co-founder of Principal to Principal, a firm that brings together senior executive leaders and decision-makers to consider new and constructive approaches to today’s problems. Her strategic advice and counsel are regularly sought on issues relating to security and disaster response, federal government contracting, the role of business in complex and dynamic environments (including markets emerging from conflict), public-private partnerships, and crisis communications.

Previously, Rogers successfully launched and led two companies with extensive overseas operations. Rogers has also held senior positions within the U.S. government, including her appointment as assistant commissioner at U.S. Customs & Border Protection and as a senior official with the U.S. Department of Defense, serving nine months in Iraq.

Kristi currently serves on Qualys Inc.’s board of directors, NowSecure’s board of directors, ForgePoint Capital Cyber advisory council, as co-chair of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, and on Business Executives for National Security’s board of directors. She is also the president of the State Society of Michigan.

Former first lady Barbara Bush chose literacy as her life’s work based on a simple, but powerful belief: “If more people could read, write, and comprehend, we would be that much closer to solving so many of the problems plaguing our society.”

She knew that literacy is the key to a life of equity, opportunity, and prosperity for all Americans. Since she established the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy in 1989, research has proven her right, linking literacy to some of the most pressing issues of our time.

Over the past three decades, we have supported family literacy programs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Today, we are a public charity based in Washington, D.C., committed to Barbara Bush’s vision of an America in which everyone has the opportunity to read, write, and comprehend in order to navigate the world with dignity.

Learn more about our work at www.barbarabush.org.