Webinar: Connecting Health and Early Literacy for Families Around the World
On September 2, 2026 – Presented by the Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN) and Worldreader, with support from the Bezos Family Foundation, this virtual event will bring together global leaders, practitioners, and families to spotlight the powerful intersection of health, early childhood development, and reading literacy. The conversation will focus on how integrated approaches across health and education can better support parents and caregivers in preparing children for lifelong learning success. We’ll share research on the impact of family reading engagement, highlight how touchpoints in the health sector can be leveraged for holistic nurturing care, and share how a range of organizations are supporting children by supporting caregivers.
The webinar will also launch the All Families Reading initiative, a global International Literacy Month campaign elevating family engagement, joyful reading, and school readiness. The initiative includes a month-long multilingual family reading challenge hosted on BookSmart, Worldreader’s digital reading platform, engaging families with young children ages 0–5 across Arabic, English, French, Kiswahili, and Spanish.
Speakers
Dan Torres, Manager, Program Partnerships, Bezos Family Foundation
Dan Torres is Manager of Program Partnerships at the Bezos Family Foundation, which he joined in October 2019 to support and cultivate partnerships for the Vroom program. Prior to the Foundation, he held a number of roles focused on systems work supporting families. He served as Executive Director of the Washington State Essentials for Childhood initiative, a cross-systems public-private partnership working toward a vision in which all children in Washington State thrive in safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments. He previously served as Director of Policy and Partnerships at Thrive Washington.
Dr. Rose Jalang’o, Head, National Vaccines and Immunization Program, Ministry of Health, Kenya
Dr. Rose Jalang’o is Head of the National Vaccines and Immunization Program at Kenya’s Ministry of Health. A medical doctor with a public health background, she holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and a Master of Public Health from the University of Nairobi, with expertise across immunization service delivery, program management, capacity building, advocacy and social mobilization, monitoring and evaluation, and vaccine logistics and supply. She has extensive experience in new vaccine applications, introductions, and monitoring, and serves on the secretariat of the Kenya National Immunization Technical Advisory Group. She led the pilot introduction of the RTS,S malaria vaccine in Kenya, and in 2025 led the national campaign to reach more than 21 million children with typhoid conjugate vaccines.
Dr. Rebecca Martin, President, Global Immunization, Sabin Vaccine Institute
Rebecca Martin, PhD, joined the Sabin Vaccine Institute in July 2025 as President of Global Immunization, leading the organization’s work in vaccination innovation and expanding vaccine access. At Sabin she oversees all global immunization programs, including building communities of practice, identifying barriers to vaccine access and delivery, and conducting epidemiological research to support immunization. She most recently served as Vice President for Global Health at Emory University and Director of the Emory Global Health Institute, following a 24-year career with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and remains an adjunct professor in Emory’s Department of Global Health. She received her PhD in international health, with a focus on infectious disease epidemiology, from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Dr. Janet Kayita, Team Lead, Child and Adolescent Health, WHO Regional Office for Africa
Dr. Janet Kayita is Team Lead for Child and Adolescent Health at the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville. A paediatrician and public health specialist trained at Makerere University, she holds an MBChB, a Master of Medicine in paediatrics, and a Master of Public Health. She has worked across clinical care, technical advisory, and health systems roles throughout the region, including as Coordinator of the Basic Package of Essential Health Services with WHO Sierra Leone and as Regional Senior Technical Officer in the Care and Treatment Division of Family Health International in Kenya. She served as a lead editor of the Handbook on Paediatric AIDS in Africa, a reference used widely by clinicians across the continent, and has contributed to regional guidance on reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health.
Elizabeth Lule, Executive Director, ECDAN
Elizabeth is a widely recognized expert on international development and global health issues and has devoted her career to strengthening global commitments and programs addressing the needs of women, adolescents, children, and infants. Before joining ECDAN, she served in senior leadership, management, and technical positions at the World Bank for 17 years. She also worked at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as Director, at Pathfinder International as their Africa Regional Vice President, and as Technical Advisor with USAID in Nigeria. She started her career in academia and served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University in Global Health.
Elizabeth is very passionate about addressing social inequalities and has been instrumental in establishing and supporting global partnerships, networks, and coalitions to break down silos and improve the wellbeing of women and children and other development issues. She serves on several Boards of Directors, including Save the Children International, the Africa Institute for Development Policy, and Concept Foundation. She has also served as a member of several global think tanks, including several UN Inter-Agency Task Teams. Her work is published in peer-reviewed journals, and she has received several service awards. She has a joint advanced degree in Medical Demography from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Violet Wandaho Njuguna, Product Manager, Safaricom PLC
Violet Wandaho Njuguna is a Product Manager at Safaricom PLC, Kenya’s largest telecommunications provider. An innovation champion with experience in product management, solution architecture, and agile project management, she scopes solutions and leads implementation for business and product development. She has worked across the IT, telecommunications, corporate business, and international NGO sectors, and has been recognized for innovative service. Her work includes research, design, and delivery of solutions in healthcare and other verticals, collaborating with developers, designers, and project managers through planning, governance, implementation, and launch. She joins the panel as both a technology professional and a parent.
Rebecca Chandler Leege, Chief Executive Officer, Worldreader
Rebecca Chandler Leege is Chief Executive Officer of Worldreader. From 2018 to 2023 she led Worldreader’s global impact as Chief Impact Officer, helping the organization reach more than 22 million readers and sharpening its strategy around getting children reading in under-resourced communities. She brings more than 25 years of people-centered global leadership experience and a track record of growing innovative organizations through creative collaborations, cross-sector partnerships, and strategic vision. She previously co-led All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development, one of the longest-running edtech innovation efforts at USAID, and served as Director of Child Protection, Gender, and Education at World Vision. She has lived and worked across Africa and Asia for over 15 years, and holds a Master of Science in Multinational Commerce from Boston University.