Closing The Gap
Bridging Worlds Through Literacy | Drew Tatum
Publisher Kellen E. Brandon addressing students in Swartz Creek, Michigan.
For quite some time the overarching goal for Brandon Publishing was to become a national brand. The strategy toward achieving this rested upon the development of meaningful partnerships. These collaborations were strategically aligned through a rooted mindset of “purpose over profit.” But somewhere down the line, publisher Kellen E. Brandon realized that the national goal was no longer the aim. This alteration of direction wasn’t derived in fear. “It was actually more about making immediate change,” states Brandon. “Do the work and help will come.”
Since 2010 Brandon Publishing has consistently generated empowering events, literature, workshops, and after-school programming—catalyzing youth culture toward increasing their internal courage and literacy skills. Yet the year 2020, for many (including Brandon) awakened an undeniable desire to focus on ridding communities of their shameful inequities altogether. “I didn’t want to get rid of our programming, I just had to find a way to enhance it, or reshape it—by making it serve and address more areas of need.” Luckily for Brandon, he wasn’t the only person within his network seeking systematic change.
Dan Farrell and wife Jennifer Hagerman | Owner at Clean Juice Grand Rapids
Enter, Dan Farrel; Michigan native and franchisee of national cold press juice company Clean Juice.
“I met Dan while speaking at a youth Ted Talk event hosted in Flint, Michigan around 2014. Dan has always been a person who wants to do good for the right reasons, and this time was no different,” says Brandon. In March of 2020, Dan placed a call to Kellen asking eagerly, “How can I help? What can I do?” But this wasn’t the first call of its kind between the two.
“Dan has been lending resources for change since the day I met him, he’s always been eager to learn the why’s behind the what of injustices in our communities,” Brandon confirms. “He believes in what I want to do with my company. More so, Dan isn’t on a mission to cure white guilt. It’s just about being an ally to minimizing inequality wherever he can.”
This joint ambition, brought both Kellen and Dan into partnership and ultimately birthed the Closing The Gap campaign—A three city literacy and engagement driven project focused on a few important things.
1. Growing in-home libraries for early readers and parents. The Closing The Gap campaign will provide books for over 900 early readers in three Michigan cities (Flint, Lansing, and Grand Rapids); But it’s also focused on tackling much more.
2. Closing The Gap will also focus on introducing early readers and parents to high quality books containing characters of color exclusively. In 2018, statistics reported by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center showcased a huge diversity gap in literature for children. This imbalance can lead to many mental inequalities for youth at the earliest stages of their learning careers.
3. The Closing The Gap campaign will also provide workshops for parents/educators toward creating equitable classrooms and in-home libraries. There are multiple biases and counterproductive cultures that knowingly and unknowingly develop within classrooms across the country. This campaign is designed to assist in reducing these unfortunate outcomes. —DT
Check Out This Video - Closing The Gap / Never Miss A Monday Campaign