PH Neighbor Named Catch Up & Read President, CEO

Carol Pierce Goglia, a Preston Hollow resident and Park Cities native, has been named president and CEO of Catch Up & Read (CAR).

Catch Up & Read is the only reading intervention program that closes the literacy gap by using educators and data to find the best practices in English and Spanish. The organization serves 20 economically disadvantaged elementary schools in Dallas County by training more than 150 teachers and providing teacher-directed tutoring, which impacts 3,900 first through third-grade students.

“Giving the reading crisis we’re facing as a nation, there is nothing more important than investing in our children and their teachers,” Goglia said. “I’m honored to join Catch Up & Read to advance their unique and proven model to grow more young readers who will create a bright future for themselves, their families, and our region.”

Goglia comes from United to Learn where she served as president and strategic impact advisor. During her time there, the nonprofit almost doubled its footprint, expanding partnerships from 27 to 50 Dallas ISD elementary schools.

“We believe Carol is the right person at the right time to oversee and expand CAR’s outreach to equip the children in our community to read on grade level by the third grade,” CAR founder Catherine LeBlanc said. “Based on our results, we are well positioned to meet growing demand to train teachers with science-based strategies that maximize reading growth for every child.”

Prior to working with United to Learn, Goglia oversaw marketing and communications for the Communities Foundation of Texas and North Texas Giving Day. She received PRNews Marketer of the Year, Dallas Fort-Worth American Marketing Association’s Marketer of the Year, and CNM Connect’s Communicator of the Year. Prior to that, she worked for a decade in brand marketing at PepsiCo and Frito Lay, and got her master’s in business administration from the University of Texas and bachelor of arts from Washington and Lee University.

“Her strong and long tenured involvement with our community are assets that we know will be valuable as she leads CAR to the next phase of its growth and in furtherance of its mission, which is to get children to grade level reading by the time they finish third grade,” said Bob Dransfield, chairman of the Board of Directors.