Impact · My Mission

On a mission for every child on the planet to read.

Giving back is the foundation NourishX was built on. I've been fundraising for causes I care about for years, and nothing lights me up like a kid learning to read and loving it.

I believe we're living in a time when every kiddo can be given the chance to learn to read. And we are the people who get to make it possible.

Jessie with students and community members at a new school in Ghana

Read to Build

Help kids help kids. That's the whole idea.

I created Read to Build in San Francisco in 2017. Kids read books to unlock funds, and every dollar raised goes toward building schools for Pencils of Promise students.

Now I'm working on expanding the program so kids anywhere can join in, with funds also going to local nonprofits who partner with us. Let's do this together.

A student writing Thank you Read to Build on a chalkboard

Pencils of Promise · Schools completed to date

Every plaque tells a story

01

Guatemala

The first school I fundraised to build. The trip to see it changed my life forever.

The plaque reads

Education is the most valuable weapon to change the world.
Nelson Mandela

Visit this school

02

Ghana · 2017

The first school built by the Read to Build program I created with United Playaz, inspiring San Francisco youth to read to unlock funds for the school.

The plaque reads

It takes the hood to save the hood.
Read to Build San Francisco 2017

Visit this school

03

Ghana · 2018

The second Read to Build school, built in collaboration with readers from Collective Impact, West Bay, and United Playaz.

The plaque reads

Once you learn to read you will be forever free.
Read to Build San Francisco 2018

Visit this school

04

Laos · 2020

The third Read to Build school. Fundraised in 2019 with readers from Collective Impact, West Bay, and United Playaz, and built in 2020.

The plaque reads

Once you learn to read you will be forever free.
Read to Build San Francisco 2019

Visit this school
Join me for the 5th
Jessie laughing with students in Ghana Read to Build kids in San Francisco with new backpacks Students in Guatemala holding a thank you sign
Pencils of Promise at the New York Stock Exchange opening bell
Pencils of Promise at the New York Stock Exchange, 2020

Together we can build anything.

Want to help put the next school on the map? Every dollar goes to Pencils of Promise students.

Join me for the 5th school