J3 Foundation awarded Picerne Family Foundation Social Entrepreneur Grant
The Picerne Family Foundation has selected the J3 Foundation for the 2025 Social Entrepreneur Fund, a three-year renewable capacity building grant. J3 provides research-based in-class and after-school reading curriculum along with a lending library of books to nearly 900 in-need fourth graders in 24 Title I schools in Los Angeles.
The mission of the J3 Foundation, a nonprofit organization, is “to give scholars the foundation they need for a lifetime of reading success”. Schools traditionally do not teach reading beyond the 3rd grade despite the fact that seventy-five percent of 4th graders in Los Angeles read below grade level. These students are four times as likely to drop out of school. Two thirds of the students who cannot read proficiently by the end of fourth grade will end up in jail or on welfare. Since beginning the program in 2018, the J3 Foundation has enabled 70% of their students to show improvement in standardized reading test scores. With the increased capacity afforded by the Social Entrepreneur Fund, the J3 Foundation, will expand their reach throughout Los Angeles and beyond.
