Meet the Inspiring Educator Who Learned to Read at Age 30

Jennifer Hudson has a huge surprise in store for an inspiring educator who has taught thousands of people to become literate after struggling with literacy herself.

On the October 20 episode of “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” Sabrina “Bri” Moore was shocked to discover that Jennifer was inviting her from the studio audience down to the stage to tell her story!

Bri is the founder of 3Ls: Literacy, Leadership, and Liberation, a nonprofit organization in Oakland, California, that teaches kids and adults in the community how to read.

Moore’s commitment to education comes from a deeply personal place: She overcame her own challenges with literacy, not learning to read until the age of 30.

Her mom, Pam, always championed and advocated for her and was one of the only people who knew Bri wasn’t literate. But when Bri was 18, her mother was murdered, and Bri’s life was turned upside down. She lived out of her car and flunked out of college.

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With the help of people from her church, Bri landed a job with AT&T, and she thrived there. When it was time for a promotion, Bri admitted to her manager that she didn’t know how to read. Her manager stayed after work with her, bought her a dictionary and thesaurus, and taught her how to read.

Bri said she felt unstoppable once she learned to read. She would go on to earn a college degree, a master’s, and then a doctorate in education.

She became a teacher, and then a principal. At the time, her school had the lowest literacy scores in the city. With Bri’s leadership, the school went on to win literacy awards and achieve the best testing scores in the city.

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After five years of being a principal, Bri decided she needed to take her passion for improving Oakland literacy districtwide and opened her nonprofit 3Ls in 2020.

3Ls has impacted more than 6,000 community members, ensuring that every child and adult who participates learns to read, regardless of their age or grade level.

Bri said that she hopes to expand 3Ls someday, but the organization still struggles with funding.

Jennifer had a huge surprise in store for Bri — Scribd, an e-book and audiobook subscription service, heard about her story and wanted to donate $10,000 to her nonprofit so they can continue to help more people learn how to read!

To find out more about 3Ls, head to 3lstheacademy.org.

Scribd is a reading subscription service that offers some of the best ebooks, audiobooks, magazine articles, podcasts, sheet music, documents, and presentations—all in one place, for $11.99 a month.

Scribd works directly with the world’s leading publishers to constantly add new content. The company also regularly releases original stories—spanning narrative journalism, literary fiction, memoir, thrillers, mysteries, true crime, sci-fi, history, and more—that can often be read in just a few hours in partnership with authors such as Stephen King, Roxane Gay, Charles Yu, Margaret Atwood, Chuck Palahniuk, and more.

Scribd is committed to providing access to reading through a library that amplifies diverse perspectives and underrepresented authors—and by taking a stand for educational equity and the freedom to read books that elevate inclusion yet have been banned in many states. The app is available on iOS and Android devices, as well as web browsers and Apple Watch.

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