When I first started Storyshares, I was a teacher facing a heartbreaking reality: my middle school students were brilliant, capable, and ambitious, but they were being left behind by a literacy gap that felt like a canyon. They needed to learn to read, but the only books available for their skill level were written for six-year-olds.
I knew I had to build a solution. But as I set out to create Storyshares, I thought I had to choose between two rigid paths: be a nonprofit to stay "pure" to the mission, or be a for-profit to scale.
I eventually realized that dichotomy was an oversimplification. Today, Storyshares is a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC). This isn't just a legal designation; it’s the engine that allows us to solve the adolescent literacy crisis at scale.
The Problem: A Crisis in Plain Sight
The statistics are sobering. According to 2024 NAEP scores, nearly 70% of 4th and 8th graders in the U.S. are not reading proficiently. In our current education system, after 3rd grade, students are expected to "read to learn." If they haven't mastered the basics by then, the support systems often vanish. The consequences are life-altering: students who struggle with reading in 4th grade are four times less likely to graduate high school and significantly more likely to face incarceration or economic hardship.
At Storyshares, we refuse to accept that it’s "too late" for these students. We know that with the right tools, an 8th grader can—and will—become a strong reader. But they won’t do it by reading "baby books."
Why the "PBC" Model?
For years, I ran Storyshares as a nonprofit. I found myself exhausted by the endless cycle of grant writing and fundraising. Every hour I spent chasing a donation was an hour I wasn't spending building better resources for teachers and students.
By transitioning to a Public Benefit Corporation, we found a "third way." As a PBC, we are a mission-driven for-profit company. This means:
- Mission is Mandated: We are legally required to balance the interests of our mission with our shareholders. Profit is never an excuse to compromise our impact.
- Sustainability over Solicitation: Instead of relying on the whims of grants, we generate revenue by selling high-quality books and curriculum.
- Reinvestment: Every cent of profit we earn currently goes right back into our mission. It pays our team of former teachers, funds the development of new books, and fuels the scaling of our LIFT (Literacy Intervention for Teens) curriculum.
More Than a Transaction: An Investment in Equity
When a school district purchases Storyshares materials, they aren't just buying a product—they are investing in a social solution.
Because we are a PBC, our revenue acts as a "two birds, one stone" strategy. The sales of our books provide the very intervention tools students need, while the revenue from those sales funds the next generation of content. For example, our 10X revenue growth this past year allowed us to debut our comprehensive intervention program in Summer 2025—a feat that would have taken years under a traditional nonprofit model.
Impact is Our Primary Metric
We track revenue because it’s the "fuel" in our tank, but impact is our destination. We measure success by:
- Reading Growth: Seeing students jump five whole reading levels in just a few months.
- Teacher Empowerment: Hearing from educators who finally feel equipped to help their struggling teenagers.
- The "First Book" Moment: The incredible stories of high schoolers who finish their first-ever book through Storyshares and immediately ask for another.
Join the Movement
Storyshares is not a typical corporation with a small side-project for social good. 100% of our focus is the mission. We are a team of 20, mostly former teachers, making decisions based on what we needed in our own classrooms.
When you partner with us, you are joining a movement to fundamentally alter the life trajectories of striving older readers. We aren't just selling books; we are proving that every student, regardless of their age or starting point, deserves the chance to become a reader.
Want to see the impact of our PBC model in action? Explore our LIFT Curriculum or browse our decodables.