Trude Haecker, MD
Medical Director
Dr. Trude Haecker has been Medical Director of Reach Out and Read Greater Philadelphia since the Affiliate’s establishment in October 2002. A general pediatrician well versed in the developmental issues of young children, Dr. Haecker first brought Reach Out and Read to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in 1996.
Under her leadership, CHOP medical providers (pediatricians and nurse practitioners) have given out more than 1.8 million brand-new and gently-used books at well and sick visits through CHOP’s Primary Care Centers. Reach Out and Read is currently implemented at 20 CHOP Primary Care Centers located in Northwest, West and South Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania suburbs (Broomall, Chalfont, Coatesville, Drexel Hill, Kennett Square, Media, Norristown, Pottstown, Souderton, Springfield, West Chester and West Grove), and Burlington Township, New Jersey and also at six CHOP neonatal follow-up programs and one cardiac developmental follow-up program. In 2000, Dr. Haecker was instrumental in obtaining funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to expand Reach Out and Read to the eight health care centers of the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health. This expansion laid the groundwork for the creation of Reach Out and Read Greater Philadelphia.
Dr. Haecker’s outpatient practice focused on the comprehensive care of children born prematurely. She has vast experience with chronic medical conditions, developmental delays and care coordination and has written extensively in the area of medical and developmental care of young children in foster care.
Dr. Haecker is also Medical Director of Global Patient Services at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In 2019, Dr. Haecker was appointed to the Reach Out and Read National Board of Directors. Dr. Haecker is Past President of the Pennsylvania Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics (2020 through June 2022). In November 2021, Dr. Haecker was named Vice Chair of the Reach Out and Read National Board of Directors.
Danielle Erkoboni, MD, MSHP
Associate Medical Director
Dr. Erkoboni leads efforts to promote early literacy and learning through parent-child interaction in an increasingly digital age. She is the Principal Investigator of the Literacy Lab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and since 2020, Associate Medical Director of Reach Out and Read Greater Philadelphia. Through this work and other diverse research initiatives, Dr. Erkoboni has partnered with multiple community-based organizations and stakeholders, including Temple University’s Child and Infant Lab, the Free Library of Philadelphia, Reach Out and Read Greater Philadelphia, and Read by 4th (Philadelphia’s Campaign for Grade-Level Reading). Dr. Erkoboni is additionally collaborating with many of these organizations to bring playful learning environments to clinics and other community spaces throughout the city of Philadelphia.
Dr. Erkoboni is an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, a faculty member of the PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a general pediatrician at CHOP Karabots Primary Care Center, Norristown. She completed a fellowship in the National Clinician Scholar Program (formerly the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars) at Penn, where she received a Master in Health Policy and Research. Dr. Erkoboni participates on a number of local and national committees, including as a member of the Read by 4th Leadership Council and a member of the Council for Early Childhood of the American Academy of Pediatrics. At home, she is a mother to two young girls; her favorite children’s book is Click, Clack, Moo by Doreen Cronin.
Kirsten Rogers
Coordinator
Kirsten Rogers plans and implements the budgeting, quality assurance, and community-relations initiatives of Reach Out and Read Greater Philadelphia. Ms. Rogers also coordinates medical provider trainings and provides technical assistance to 81 Reach Out and Read Greater Philadelphia sites. In addition, since 1999 Ms. Rogers serves as Coordinator of Reach Out and Read at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Prior to joining Reach Out and Read Greater Philadelphia in 2002, Ms. Rogers worked as a certified child life specialist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in Philadelphia and The Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and project assistant in venture capital and merchant banking at Morgan Stanley in Manhattan.
Sarah Kerrey, MEd
Outreach Coordinator
Sarah Kerrey is responsible for designing and implementing a community outreach plan for Reach Out and Read Greater Philadelphia to further the organization’s core mission around pediatric primary care driven early literacy promotion. Sarah plans family literacy and other community events, facilitates community partnerships, and helps facilitate the advancement of diverse book initiatives.
Prior to joining Reach Out and Read Greater Philadelphia in 2022, Ms. Kerrey worked in Arizona for the Phoenix Public Library and First Things First as an early literacy specialist, where she led early literacy programs for caregivers and children, promoted library services and delivered free books to families with young children.
At home, she is the mother to three children, whose favorite books are: The Color Monster, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and the Harry Potter series.