First Book and The Moth Launch National Storytelling Partnership for Children and Educators in Low-Income Communities
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation supports educational programming with $250,000 grant
WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Book, a national nonprofit that expands educational opportunities for children in under-resourced communities, and The Moth, a global leader in the art and craft of personal storytelling, are launching an unprecedented national partnership to empower children and educators in low-income communities to use the power of storytelling to enrich classrooms and fuel literacy and the joy of reading. The new initiative, made possible by an 18-month grant of $250,000 from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, will draw on The Moth’s successful storytelling education programs to elevate the voices and experiences of the more than 600,000 educators and 6.5 million children and young people served by First Book.
“Stories are a powerful tool for change – shifting narratives, informing policy, sharing the human experience, and elevating literacy and language development,” said Kyle Zimmer, First Book President and CEO. “This partnership will enable all those working and volunteering in under-resourced communities – voices rarely heard in popular discourse today – to share the realities they face in classrooms and programs every day, and the challenges facing their students. This will enable us to develop solutions that address the real issues. For students, the art of effective storytelling not only boosts literacy, communication, and emotional resilience, it also imparts skills that empower a generation. We are so grateful to the Kellogg Foundation for supporting this innovative opportunity and we are excited to bring the extraordinary expertise of The Moth to thousands of young people nationwide.”
“Strong storytelling skills help children build confidence, strengthen literacy, and see their own experiences as worthy of being heard,” said Jonathan Njus, senior program officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. “By bringing together First Book’s deep reach with educators and The Moth’s expertise in storytelling, this partnership gives children the tools to express themselves, connect with others and thrive both in and beyond the classroom.”
The Moth has trained hundreds of teachers through The Moth Teacher Institute. Funding from the Kellogg Foundation will enable The Moth to restructure their successful educator training methodology from live instruction into a blended program of live and virtual video training reaching thousands more educators. This new curriculum will be available exclusively through First Book’s new digital online Community Platform. Participating educators will have the opportunity for live coaching and participation in a virtual StorySLAM for educators.
"Sharing stories inherently builds community," said Ana Stern, Sr. Manager of Education for The Moth. “For the past two decades, The Moth has provided a forum for storytellers of all ages through The Moth Radio Hour, podcasts, and live events across the country. We’ve also developed curriculum to teach personal storytelling specifically for young people and their educators. We invite educators to think about what happens when classrooms become beacons of sharing and really listening. This partnership with First Book is the perfect match: enabling us to support thousands of educators in sharing their own stories, and giving them the means to teach powerful storytelling to their students.”
In addition to working with The Moth to provide storytelling curriculum in classrooms and community-based settings, First Book will conduct pre- and post-research by First Book Research & Insights, First Book’s research arm, to shape the next phase of storytelling programming.
Teachers, community program leaders, nonprofits, and others working or volunteering with children in low-income or rural settings are invited to join First Book at firstbook.org/register to learn more about this opportunity and to watch an upcoming airing of The Moth’s Mainstage Matinee, a curated program featuring true, personal stories from NYC high schoolers. First Book membership is free and provides access to a wide range of affordable and free books, educational resources, and programming.
Since its founding 34 years ago, First Book has distributed 250 million books and a wide range of educational resources; over the next five years, the organization is expanding to serve 27 million children and 1.6 million educators.
About First Book
Education transforms lives. First Book is building a world where every child has access to a quality education. It works to remove barriers to education and level the playing field for kids in need. At the heart of its work are the 600,000+ members of the First Book Network, the largest online community of individual educators, professionals and volunteers dedicated to supporting children living in low-income communities across the country. This Network is the key to creating lasting change. Through its research arm, First Book Research & Insights, it conducts studies that aggregate the voices of the Network to identify challenges, needs, and solutions. To address their needs, it provides free and low-cost books, resources and access to leading experts through the First Book Marketplace, which uses aggregated buying power to support their work. Founded in Washington, D.C. in 1992 as a nonprofit social enterprise, First Book is dedicated to eliminating barriers to learning and inspiring young minds. Learn more at firstbook.org and visit the award-winning eCommerce website at fbmarketplace.org.
About The Moth
The Moth is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting humanity through the power of personal storytelling. Since launching in 1997, The Moth has presented more than 65,000 true stories—told live and without notes—to standing-room-only audiences around the world. Today, The Moth produces more than 600 live events annually and maintains an ongoing presence in 29 cities worldwide. The Moth’s Education Program (Moth EDU) enriches learning through storytelling workshops, live performances, internships, and educator training for K-12. These programs boost self-awareness, empathy, language skills, and communication, empowering students to share personal stories while gaining confidence and SEL skills. The workshops help students appreciate the power of language and their own voices. Learn more at themoth.org.
About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal innovator and entrepreneur Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.
The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special attention is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.
Staci Harris First Book 314-602-1325 sharris@firstbook.org
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