Funder Highlight: Bernard A. Newcomb

Since 1999, Raising A Reader has had a number of founding donors that were instrumental in launching the organization and  supported the expansion of the program throughout the country.  One of these angel funders is Bernard A. Newcomb. Bernie hailed from Oregon and ended up in the Bay Area in the 1970s. As one of the founders of E*Trade, he was in the midst of Silicon Valley during its infancy as well.  In a 2008 interview with the Gazette-Times in Oregon Newcomb called his legacy as co-founder of E*Trade “a 14-year overnight success story”. and said much of it was being in the right place at the right time.” Newcomb retired in the late 1990s and founded a charity organization, the Bernard A. Newcomb Foundation.

Over the last 15 years, Bernie has contributed over half a million dollars to Raising A Reader to support national expansion, enhance program quality and the creation of special book collections and programming for children with disabilities.   Bernie’s support began in 2003 with a three year investment to support expanded outreach to low-income families in  Santa Clara County. Bernie’s support contributed greatly to Raising A Reader’s national expansion and provided the foundation for RAR’s programming for children with special needs.  In 2013, the Foundation provided yet another investment, which will support the creation and implementation of a special book collection that will not only include characters with disabilities but will feature characters who are siblings of children with disabilities.

Raising A Reader is proud to call the Bernard A. Newcomb Foundation a partner and founding donor. Together, children and families across the country will experience Raising A Reader and have access to books that include adaptation or feature characters that make a more inclusive world.