Pam Allyn

Allyn was born in New York City and raised in Scarsdale, N.Y. Her interest in storytelling was first piqued in the third grade when her uncle Ed helped her write what she called “pretty close to a direct plagiarism of Black Beauty”.[12] He also assisted in creating the cover art for the story, a large horse head. “Knowing he believed enough in my writing to think it warranted cover art was enough to carry me along for many years,” said Allyn.[13] She received her undergraduate degree in English from Amherst College in 1984, where she studied under Professor Barry O’Connell.

After graduating college, Allyn spent one year as a second-grade teacher in Washington, D.C., a year she refers to “often in [her] work and in [her] foundations for all [her] programs” and the foundation for her passion for children’s advocacy. She pursued her Master’s in Deaf Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, graduating in 1988. Allyn continued to teach in the New York City Public Schools system and served as the Director of Funded Projects for The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project for nearly a decade after graduation, where she worked alongside NYC schoolteachers as a coach and literacy leader. [14]

Allyn’s departure from Teachers College led to her founding the program Books for Boys in 1999 at The Children's Village, the nation's largest residential treatment center for foster care children. Allyn shared in a 2003 interview that she wanted the boys at The Children’s Village “to know that whatever experience they’re having, they can read about it. They can find a book that relates to that experience; they can write their own stories about it. Anything can become an opportunity to create or find a good story.”[15] As of 2023, the program is open to all genders and now operates under Open Door.[16] The program has been acclaimed for its innovative efforts on behalf of at-risk youth and has been replicated in other foster care agencies.[17] Allyn founded LitLife in 2002 with her husband, Jim Allyn, and now operates across 13 states and 18 countries.[18] LitLife works with charter and public schools throughout the United States and Latin America, conducting teacher training, professional development, curriculum design, and content review to improve reading and writing programs. LitLife's primary focus is consulting in schools and building flexible K-12 literary achievement frameworks to help exceed national learning standards.

Allyn founded LitWorld in 2007, a non-profit focused on cultivating global literacy leaders through transformational literacy experiences.[19] The organization develops adaptable programs that promote leadership and strengthen children and their communities. In a 2013 interview with News 4 New York, Allyn shared, “We started LitWorld in the spirit that all children deserve the right to read and write, no matter where they live, no matter where they’ve come from or are going to; everybody can use literacy for their own dreams…it’s one of those causes that everybody can belong to.”[20]

LitWorld's LitClub and LitCamp programs, which run during the school year and out-of-school times, were developed to empower emerging leaders, storytellers, and academic achievers. The program’s success led to the development of the 7 Strengths Framework,[21] which became the basis for LitWorld’s activities.[22] “The 7 Strengths vision sets us on a path to a new era,” says Allyn, “where we come together to help every student achieve independence, purpose, and joy, every one of them” (Allyn & Morrell, 2015, p.5).

In 2010, Allyn and LitWorld established World Read Aloud Day (WRAD), an advocacy day focusing on the right to read and write.[23] The idea came from a LitClub child who asked his teacher, “Why can’t we create a birthday party for the read-aloud?” [24] LitWorld launched the program in partnership with Scholastic, with Allyn stating that “the best, most successful initiatives in education happen when we listen to the voices of children.”[25] The event is hosted on the first Wednesday of February, with live celebrations, virtual read-alouds, book lists, at-home activities, and read-a-thons with readers reporting worldwide. [26] [27] World Read Aloud Day is celebrated by over 90 million people in 170 countries and 50 states.[28] Allyn remained part of the LitWorld team as the Executive Director until 2017. As of 2020, LitWorld has reached over 1.12 million children across more than 30 countries worldwide.[29]

Knowing the importance of literacy culture in children's lives and seeing the positive impact LitClubs had on their communities, Allyn and the LitWorld team created a Girls LitClub Initiative in Kisumu, Kenya, in the summer of 2011, with over 100 girls in attendance at the first Girls LitClub meeting. LitClubs specific to girls were launched in Ghana, Nepal, Uganda, and India, building community, friendships, and the tools needed for innovation. Allyn described the importance of the clubs as “life and death work.”.[30]

Allyn with a LitClub student in Kisumu, Kenya in 2011

She noted, “The girls in LitWorld’s LitClubs read and write to find out who they are, to see that stories can inspire them, and make them feel less alone. They can read and write to look out at the world, to imagine it as a possibility for themselves and for their families. Through these programs, the world becomes a hopeful place.”[31]

In response to the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of Resolution 66/170,[32] Allyn and LitWorld launched Stand Up for Girls in 2012, a worldwide rally in recognition of the International Day of the Girl.[33] Each year on October 11th, LitWorld clubs conduct empowerment activities, talk about the girls and women that inspire them, and help them become leaders in their communities. At noon in their time zones, celebrants are asked to rise as they can to symbolically stand for girls’ rights. LitWorld celebrates International Day of the Girl annually and often uses the time to highlight girls in LitClubs worldwide.[34]

LitWorld collaborated with Global G.L.O.W (Girls Leading Our World), a non-profit creating mentorship programs for girls’ self-advocacy and community building,[35] to create the Global HerStory Summit in 2016.[36] The summit took place each International Women’s Day at different locations in the United States in 2016, 2017, and 2018, allowing girls and women from across Global G.L.O.W and LitWorld programs to meet, collaborate, and share their experiences. The initial summit in New York City involved 90 girls ages 10-16 and 49 mentors from 10 countries, and a standing-room-only audience of 300.[37] The two organizations continued collaborating on the HerStory Campaign through 2018, hosting conversations with UN Women and other leading girls’ advocacy groups.[38]

Allyn’s publishing partnership with Scholastic began when she released her first book, The Complete 4 for Literacy, in 2007. Several of her works, including Best Books for Boys (2011) and Every Child a Super Reader (2015, 2022), were launched through their publishing house. Scholastic designated her as the Global Ambassador for Scholastic's "Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life." campaign for the 2012-13 academic year, [39] advocating for reading and access to books on all platforms, and as the National Ambassador for Open a World of Possible from 2015 to 2018. Allyn was also a frequent guest contributor to the Scholastic On Our Minds Blog, sharing the importance of listening to children and their needs for creating effective learning curricula. [40] Upon Scholastic’s purchase of LitCamp and its licensing from LitWorld in 2016, LitCamp programs were expanded to include millions of children worldwide. Allyn joined Scholastic full-time as their Senior Vice President of Innovation and Business Development from 2018 to 2020.[41] Allyn also collaborated with Pearson by creating the “Core Ready” instructional framework to help schools meet the Common Core educational standards. The books were utilized in partnership with LitLife to help implement the common core standards in schools.[42] Allyn is also a co author on the widely used ReadyGen Program in partnership with Pearson.

Allyn founded Dewey[43] with the support of her longtime collaborator and co-author, Dr. Ernest Morrell, after recognizing that children were not returning to in-person classes “whole or healthy” following the COVID-19 Lockdowns. Building upon her research and program implementation, Allyn spearheaded the creation of the Dewey Family Learning Hub,[44] an online learning support platform for school districts and families. This resource provides PreK-12 parents and caregivers with accessible, expert-created content to support them in fostering their children’s academic growth and personal well-being. Dewey then launched MathCamp,[45] a PreK-Grade 8 mathematics program, co-authored with renowned mathematics educator Mike Flynn.[46] The program operates in public school districts to accelerate summer mathematics and STEAM learning, providing support and meaningful learning experiences that benefit all children.

• Official website
• LitLife
• LitWorld
• What to Read When
• Core Ready
• Pam Allyn on Penguin Group
• Pam Allyn on Scholastic
• Pam Allyn on Huffington Post
• Pam Allyn on Psychology Today