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FREEDOM READS

EIN 87-3023665 HAMDEN, CT

Browse the largest nonprofits in Connecticut

Revenue 2024
$3,608,736
Expenses 2024
$6,058,378

Program services were 73.7% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

As filed

Subsection
03
NTEE code
P20
Classification
1230
Street
2666 STATE ST STE 5A

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2024

Mission

FREEDOM READS' MISSION IS TO BRING JOY, INSPIRE HOPE, AND HELP THOSE INSIDE CONFRONT WHAT PRISON DOES TO THE SPIRIT. WE BRING BEAUTIFUL, HANDCRAFTED BOOKCASES INTO PRISONS, TRANSFORMING CELLBLOCKS INTO FREEDOM LIBRARIES. THE FREEDOM LIBRARY IS A PHYSICAL INTERVENTION INTO THE LANDSCAPE OF PLASTIC AND STEEL AND LONELINESS THAT CHARACTERIZES PRISON. IN AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE THE FREEDOM TO THINK, TO CONTRIBUTE TO A COMMUNITY, AND EVEN TO DREAM ABOUT WHAT IS POSSIBLE IS TOO OFTEN CURTAILED, FREEDOM READS REMINDS THOSE INSIDE THAT THEY HAVE NOT BEEN FORGOTTEN.

  • FREEDOM READS BUILDS FREEDOM LIBRARIES, CURATED 500-BOOK COLLECTIONS HOUSED IN HANDMADE WOODEN BOOKSHELVES OPENED IN PRISON CELLBLOCKS. THE FREEDOM LIBRARIES ARE IN PROXIMITY TO WHERE PEOPLE LIVE AND ARE AVAILABLE 24/7. FREEDOM LIBRARIES OPENINGS ARE LITERARY EVENTS, BRINGING WRITERS AND ARTISTS INTO PRISONS TO ENGAGE DIRECTLY WITH INCARCERATED READERS, CREATING SPACES FOR REFLECTION, JOY, AND IMAGINATION.

    Expenses $3,692,085

  • FREEDOM READS MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM AMPLIFIES THE ORGANIZATIONS MISSION OF DELIVERING TRANSFORMATIVE LITERARY EXPERIENCES IN PRISON. THROUGH STORYTELLING, TARGETED OUTREACH, DIGITAL CONTENT, AND MEDIA ENGAGEMENT, FREEDOM READS RAISES PUBLIC AWARENESS ABOUT THE POWER OF LITERATURE TO CULTIVATE GROWTH, DIGNITY, AND REFLECTION BEHIND BARS. OUR WORK ALSO DEEPENS COMMUNITY UNDERSTANDING, HELPING TO BROADEN THE IMPACT AND REACH OF FREEDOM READS PROGRAMS ACROSS CORRECTIONAL SYSTEMS NATIONWIDE.

    Expenses $533,153

  • THE INSIDE LITERARY PRIZE IS THE FIRST-EVER NATIONAL LITERARY AWARD JUDGED BY PEOPLE CURRENTLY INCARCERATED. EACH YEAR, FREEDOM READS CONVENES 300 INCARCERATED READERS FROM 12-15 PRISONS TO READ, DISCUSS, AND DEBATE FOUR TITLES DRAWN FROM THE MOST ACCLAIMED RECENT WORKS IN AMERICAN LITERATURE. OUR TEAM DISTRIBUTES COPIES OF THE BOOKS TO EACH JUDGE, FACILITATES VIRTUAL ORIENTATION AND DISCUSSION SESSIONS, AND THEN TRAVELS TO EVERY PARTICIPATING PRISON FOR IN-PERSON DELIBERATIONS AND BALLOTING. THE PRIZE OFFERS A SINGULAR OPPORTUNITY FOR INCARCERATED READERS TO SHAPE OUR NATIONAL LITERARY CONVERSATIONAND TO BE RECOGNIZED AS ESSENTIAL VOICES WITHIN IT.

    Expenses $241,616

  • OTHER.

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Officers and directors · 2024

As listed in Part VII of the 2024 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

  • Tracey Meares

    BOARD CHAIR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Deborah Leff

    VICE CHAIR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Steve Levitt

    VICE CHAIR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Helena Huang

    SECRETARY

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Alva Greenberg

    BOARD DIRECT

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Dr Carla Hayden

    BOARD DIRECT

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Anthony W Marx

    BOARD DIRECT

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Alex Duran

    BOARD DIRECT

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Gara Lamarche

    BOARD DIRECT

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Scott Semple

    BOARD DIRECT

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Bryan Stevenson

    BOARD DIRECT

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Robert Raben

    BOARD DIRECT

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • Reginald Dwayne Betts

    FOUNDER & CE

    Total calculated
    $241,343
    From this org
    $211,330
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $30,013
    Hours/week
    40

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $211,330
    Bonus
    not reported
    Other
    not reported
    Deferred
    $6,496
    Nontaxable benefits
    $23,517
    Filer's total
    $241,343

  • Ivan Dominguez

    CCO

    Total calculated
    $172,251
    From this org
    $155,170
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $17,081
    Hours/week
    40

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $155,170
    Bonus
    not reported
    Other
    not reported
    Deferred
    $4,737
    Nontaxable benefits
    $12,344
    Filer's total
    $172,251

  • Tyler Sperrazza

    CPO

    Total calculated
    $142,415
    From this org
    $128,953
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $13,462
    Hours/week
    40

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

  • 2024
    Revenue
    $3,608,736
    Expenses
    $6,058,378
    Contributions
    $3,428,171
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2023
    Revenue
    $14,531,468
    Expenses
    $4,637,427
    Contributions
    $14,497,436
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2022
    Revenue
    $6,175,615
    Expenses
    $1,919,726
    Contributions
    $6,175,354
    Grants paid
    $0

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Grants made

No itemized grants to organizations. Schedule I is filed only by organizations that granted more than $5,000 to a recipient, so most filers have none.

Grants received

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Other IRS files

Auto-Revocation List

Not listed. The IRS publishes this list for organizations whose exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file for three consecutive years.

Publication 78

Listed as of 13 October 2026, under deductibility PC.

These are two separate IRS files on two separate schedules, shown as published and not reconciled with each other. Neither is a statement about whether a contribution is deductible today: 19,245 organizations appear in Publication 78 while the IRS's own revocation file lists them as currently revoked, more than half of those revoked before 2019. Absence from Publication 78 is evidence of nothing, and presence is not evidence either. Verify current status with the IRS before relying on it.

What this page reflects

The registration facts above come from the IRS Business Master File published 13 October 2026 and read 1 November 2026, for every organization at once. Returns through tax year 2024, the newest we have parsed for this organization.