Literacy Action, Inc.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
In Georgia, an estimated one in six adults ages 19 to 65 has low literacy skills, defined as a reading level equivalent to the fifth grade or lower. The impact of this cannot be overstated. Low literate adults experience higher rates of unemployment, poverty and incarceration compared to other adults. Research has found that children whose parents have low literacy levels have a 72 percent chance of reading below grade level themselves. The effects of low literacy on an individual and society as a whole are staggering. Since 1968, Literacy Action has worked to address low literacy in adults and its socio-economic impact.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Adult Basic Education
Literacy Action offers 175 free Adult Basic Education (ABE) classes annually across five levels of reading, writing, and mathematics, as well as GED preparation. ABE instructors are skilled at “scaffolding,” the method of breaking information down into smaller sections and then building back up to larger concepts, piece by piece. With a strengthened foundation of basic educational concepts, adult learners find new confidence to live independently, embrace life, and pursue their goals for the future.
Workforce Literacy
Workforce Literacy courses, designed for low-income workers who are seeking job advancement, provide reading comprehension and mathematics courses specific to a work environment. Students also receive training in the “soft skills” necessary to navigate a working environment, such as professional image, effective communication, collaboration, conflict resolution, customer service, strategic thinking, and time management. Each semester, Literacy Action invites corporate partners onsite for a job fair. This provides adult learners an opportunity to practice their “soft skills” in a familiar environment. Literacy Action’s job fairs have successfully prepared adults to transition from unemployment or underemployment to earning a living wage.
Digital Literacy
The Digital Literacy program empowers adults to utilize technology as a tool to self-sufficiency. Adult learners are taught to become active participants in the digital age by acquiring skills such as accessing email, using word processing software, applying for jobs online, or navigating a smart phone. These courses are particularly impactful for students with disabilities who rely on software programs to help facilitate their learning.
Family Literacy
One of the most rewarding accomplishments Literacy Action witnesses is the increase in their students’ confidence and understanding of how to support their child’s academic journey. Parents and grandparents come to Literacy Action lacking the skills to help their child complete even the most elementary of homework assignments. Literacy Action’s Family Literacy classes inspire adult learners to improve their own reading skills while encouraging literacy and academic success in their children and grandchildren. Offered in partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta as well as Atlanta Public Schools and the DeKalb County School District, Family Literacy classes highlight the caregiver’s role in a child’s academic success and helps foster a culture of learning within the family.
English for Speakers of Other Languages
Literacy Action provides English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes at 12 different locations throughout metro Atlanta by collaborating with refugee-serving organizations and local housing authorities including the DeKalb Housing Authority, New American Pathways, Clarkston Community Center, and the DeKalb Library System. There are three levels of ESOL as well as English Conversation for Adult Learners sessions. Students in these classes come from nearly 40 different countries.
Where we work
Awards
Managing for Excellence - Finalist 2014
The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
External reviews
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Literacy Action’s mission is to build better futures by empowering adults with literacy, life, and work skills. Our vision is to break the intergenerational cycle of low literacy and poverty, and we do this by offering tuition-free and stigma-free classes for undereducated adults. Each year, Literacy Action provides approximately 130 classes to 1,000 students in adult basic education (including reading, writing, and math), GED preparation, family literacy, digital literacy, English as a Second Language (ESL), and workforce literacy. Most core classes are offered in 8-week quarters, with specialized programming during the summer, and “fast track” programs are offered at select levels to help students reach their goals even more quickly.
Most of Literacy Action’s students begin classes reading at a second to fifth grade level, are unemployed or underemployed, and live below the federal poverty level. Literacy Action fills a unique and vital role within the community, and the services the organization offers are unparalleled. Without access to Literacy Action, these adult learners would likely have nowhere to turn to advance their literacy and improve their lives. We empower out students to achieve their next level of best whether it's sending an email for the first time, helping a grandchild with homework, obtaining their GED or securing a living wage job.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
For nearly 50 years, Literacy Action has been a grassroots driver of free adult learning services providing various levels of educational instruction to advance adults towards employment, citizenship, better wages and post-secondary education. Founded in 1968 by volunteers at the Central Presbyterian Church in downtown Atlanta, Literacy Action is now the largest nonprofit provider of free adult basic education in Georgia, with a staff of 28 and 21 locations around the metro-Atlanta area. Literacy Action employs teams of professional adult-education teachers and volunteers to provide a full continuum of courses needed by low-income, undereducated adults. Students range in age from 16 to 86 and hail from 13 Atlanta-area counties and 37 countries. Many students manage both jobs and children while attending classes.
Adult learners are often referred to Literacy Action by a local housing authority or one of the organization's community partners such as Westside Works. During the enrollment process, students undergo an initial assessment to determine what level and types of classes would be most suitable. In the classroom, teachers focus on building a community of learners and encouraging peer-to-peer collaboration. Not only has research found that adults learn better in a team setting, but building a cohort of learners also helps keep the students accountable to one another. Any embarrassment or stigma the adult learner may feel quickly dissipates as they work side-by-side with adults at their same educational level.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Literacy Action is a financially sound organization with a $1.3M budget; strong management, accounting, and fundraising systems; and diverse revenue streams. Each year, Literacy Action receives funding from nearly 100 different sources, including government grants, a partnership with the Technical College System of Georgia, private foundations, and corporate sponsorships. Literacy Action also receives over $200,000 annually in individual contributions. Furthermore, as part of its new strategic plan for FY20-22, Literacy Action is working to increase the sustainability of its revenue model through targeted initiatives that include the cultivation of new funder relationships and the development of stronger individual giving and major gifts programs.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Prior to the Covid-19 crisis, Literacy Action was on a path of continual growth as evidenced by a 218 percent increase in participants from 2017-2019. Its new, more accessible location, combined with aggressive outreach and collaborative partnerships, positioned Literacy Action to increase its annual participation by an estimated 24 percent in FY18. In 2017, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta named Literacy Action as a recipient of the prestigious Managing for Excellence Award using the key factors of community impact, board and staff engagement, fiscal health, investment in the organization's infrastructure, thoughtful evaluation practices, and a commitment to continuous improvement. At the close of 2019, fundraising revenue was at healthy $1.4 million.
Under the leadership of a new Executive Director in early 2020, Literacy Action was positioned to robustly implement the imperatives of its strategic plan and shift to an E3 model of education, employment and economic development by leveraging Ms. Gill's 14-year history in the metro Atlanta workforce development sector to expand our partnerships with local workforce development boards, public schools, employers, and more to create economic opportunities for our students and build a more equitable metro Atlanta. Then the Covid-19 crisis occurred.
Like most organizations, LAI had to make significant programmatic changes in light of the Covid-19 public health emergency including pivoting our service delivery platform from in-person instruction to a virtual learning model. Despite this pivot, in 2021 we had a 83% retention rate, awarded 1,198 program certificates and finished the year with a positive cash flow. This speaks volumes about the resilience and determination of our students to seek better lives for themselves and their families and the dedication of our staff and donors. We look forward to welcoming our students back into the building when it is safe to do so and ramping up our efforts to offer the students we serve a comprehensive model of support that integrates the core basic education and GED preparation instruction Literacy Action is known for with work readiness support, vocational training, and a strong employment network.
Literacy Action is continuously adapting its program delivery model in order to best meet the current needs of our students and community, but we are mindful of evolving in a way that stays true to our original mission of transforming lives through literacy and our vision of breaking the intergenerational cycle of low literacy and poverty.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
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Literacy Action, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 02/08/2022
Blake McDaniel
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Lesley Solomon
CatchMark Timber Trust, inc
Cassandra Seibles
Junior League of Atlanta
Beverly Ferguson
Georgia-Pacific, LLC
David Peterson
Literacy For All
Brian Lay
Ernst & Young
Tracie Kambies
Merkle, Inc
Addison Meriwether
Cushman & Wakefield of Georiga
Calvin Wright
Community Volunteer
Deirdra Glover
Conserte Consulting
Barbara Felix
BMO Harris Bank
Brian Green
Georgia Power Company
Theresa Kananen
Arnall Golden Gregory LLP
Penny Palmer
Randstad USA
Brian Lay
Hertz
Nithya Narasimhan
ADP
Carolyn Pleiss
Cox Enterprises
Tory Winn
Gensler
Winnifer Cox
Accenture
Jeanette Crawford
Ravi Zacharias International
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
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Sexual orientation
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Disability
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