READ Nebraska: Encouraging Connection, Enhancing Literacy, and Developing Leaders

At Kids Can Community Center in Omaha, over 30 mentor/mentee matches meet for an hour every week to read, learn, and grow. Alicia Tutini, a product owner at Mutual of Omaha, began volunteering there in 2023. She has mentored nine-year-old Savannah for the past 18+ months. By reading, baking, playing games, and just talking with each other, they have built a special bond. “It’s a lot of fun, but it’s also kind of a sacred space where we’re building a one-on-one connection,” Alicia said.

The community center has an inviting library space where kids can cozy up with a book. Students are encouraged to track their reading. If they document enough reading time, they can earn gift cards to use with their mentor. They are even gifted with a monthly book they can take home and read. Additionally, mentors engage students in conversations about life—talking about what the kids want to do when they grow up. Mentors then help students find books so that they can explore their career interests.

Mentoring a reader and a leader

Alicia admires Savannah’s friendly and outgoing demeanor, describing her as someone who readily makes relational connections. “When we do baking activities, she immediately goes to give her teachers a cookie or a brownie or a cupcake or whatever it is that we’ve made,” Alicia said. “I really love that about Savannah; she is always thinking about how to include others.”

The mentoring program at Kids Can Community Center is supported by the state’s READ Nebraska program. During the 2025-2026 academic year, READ Nebraska is providing funds to 16 youth mentoring organizations to encourage elementary student literacy. The program is facilitating thousands of mentoring matches—such as the one between Alicia and Savannah.

From Alicia’s perspective, READ Nebraska has provided a good structure for Savannah. Rather than gravitating toward activities that seem the most fun, she has increasingly taken responsibility to focus on reading. “I’ve seen her do what’s a little bit harder, working toward a long-term incentive versus a right-now incentive,” Alicia said.

Along with helping Savannah make progress in reading, Alicia says READ Nebraska is preparing her for success in a future career. “I think about my team environment [at Mutual of Omaha] and how collaborative and inclusive it is,” she said. “With her innate leadership skills and outgoing personality, Savannah is absolutely going to thrive in those types of environments where she needs to build rapport with others,” Alicia predicted.

Alicia then explained how being part of READ Nebraska is helping Savannah learn additional skills—like setting goals—that may not come as naturally to her. “Goal-setting is a really important skill to develop, not only for yourself but to instill drive in a team,” she said. “A leader needs to be able to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got something hard that we need to work towards, but we can do it, and we can do it together.’ Challenging herself to do things that are a little bit harder is great practice for when Savannah will need to inspire others around her to achieve something difficult.”

The benefits of mentoring flow both ways

Alicia has found mentoring to be an incredibly rewarding experience. “There’s a real beauty in building bridges across generations,” she said. “Students look at the world differently than I do. [Being a mentor] gives me an opportunity to see how someone in elementary school is learning and what they are being exposed to.” Alicia credits this experience with enhancing her own ability to relate across generations in the workplace. “There are real-life applications that have helped me learn to connect with colleagues who are maybe a generation or two ahead of me.”

As a mentor, Alicia has also taken delight in the simple joys of playing sports and games with Savannah. “There’s something to be said about having fun and setting aside time to do something that provides a little bit of light-heartedness in your day-to-day life,” she remarked. “I love mentoring, and I learn just as much from the kids as the kids potentially learn from me!”