ProLiteracy, also known as ProLiteracy Worldwide, is an international

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organization that supports

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...

programs that help adults learn to read and write. Based in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, Yonkers, and Rochester. At the 2020 census, the city' ...

, ProLiteracy has slightly less than 1,000 member programs in the U.S. and works with 21 partners in 35 developing countries.

History

ProLiteracy was formed when Laubach Literacy International and Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. merged in 2002. Laubach Literacy International’s history began in 1930, when Dr. Frank C. Laubach,

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

among the

Maranao The Maranao people (Maranao: mәranaw Filipino: ''Maranaw''), also spelled Meranao, Maranaw, and Mëranaw, is the term used by the Philippine government to refer to the southern indigenous people who are the "people of the lake", a predomi ...

people of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, began teaching the people of Mindanao to read and write in their own language. From 1935 to 1967, Dr. Laubach visited 105 countries answering calls for literacy help and created reading lessons in 315 languages. He founded Laubach Literacy International in Syracuse, N.Y. in 1955. Literacy Volunteers of America was founded in 1962 by Ruth Johnson Colvin, who developed a means to train volunteers to tutor adults.

Overview

ProLiteracy’s work falls into three categories: programs, publishing, and development. ProLiteracy's Programs division works in the U.S. and abroad. ProLiteracy has

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

partner programs in developing countries in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

, and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. ProLiteracy provides training, technical assistance, and targeted local grants to support tailored programs that combine literacy with economic self-reliance,

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organ ...

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

, and

environmental sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

projects. In the U.S., ProLiteracy represents about 1,000 community-based

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

and adult basic education affiliates in 49 states and the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...

. ProLiteracy supports member programs with technical assistance and program and professional development services online, in regional trainings, and at a biennial conference. ProLiteracy advocates for issues related to adult literacy and lifelong learning. New Readers Press, ProLiteracy’s publishing house, generates $7.5 million in revenue annually through the sale of materials used in adult basic education, high school equivalency test preparation, and English language learning. Proceeds from these sales support the services that ProLiteracy offers to literacy practitioners. ''News for You''^®, published by New Readers Press, is a weekly online and print news source for English language learners and basic literacy students. ProLiteracy sustains its operations through revenue generated from fee for services and contributions through donations and grants. A fee for service structure allows ProLiteracy to generate revenue by requesting or requiring payment in exchange for services and products. Contributions include individual donations, bequests, and endowments. Grants are generated through corporate and private foundations.

Funding

About 77 percent of ProLiteracy’s funding comes from sales of its educational materials. About 15 percent comes from private sources, including individuals, corporations, and foundations. The remainder comes from affiliate dues and investment income. In 1997, author

Nora Roberts Nora Roberts (born Eleanor Marie Robertson on October 10, 1950) is an American author of more than 225 romance novels. She writes as J. D. Robb for the '' in Death'' series and has also written under the pseudonyms Jill March and for publicatio ...

donated

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

awarded from a

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and though ...

lawsuit to the organization. In 2020, more than 77 percent of donor contributions were allocated to program expenses.

Accountability Standards

Charity Watch CharityWatch, formerly known as the American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP), is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Chicago, created in the United States by Daniel Borochoff in 1992, to provide information about charities' financial efficiency ...

graded ProLiteracy with a B+ in 2020 and labeled ProLiteracy as a Top-Rated charity. * ProLiteracy earned a

GuideStar Candid is an information service specializing in reporting on U.S. nonprofit companies. In 2016, its database provided information on 2.5 million organizations.Wyland, Michael. "GuideStar Introduces Program Metrics Section for Nonprofit Profile ...

's Platinum Seal of Transparency in 2019 by voluntarily sharing the measures of progress and results they use to pursue their mission. * Charity Navigator gave ProLiteracy a score of 88.7 out of 100 based on the data from FY2019 as reported on its most recent 990 filed with the IRS. * A 2017 report by the Better Business Bureau's

Wise Giving Alliance The BBB Wise Giving Alliance (WGA) is an American charity monitoring organization. Under previous names, it has been reporting on nationally-soliciting charities since the 1920s. BBB's Give.org evaluates charities, at no charge, using the 20 BBB St ...

(WGA) found that ProLiteracy met all of its standards for charity accountability. The WGA found that ProLiteracy is truthful in its representations of how money is spent, does not allocate an excessive part of its budget for fundraising or administrative expenses, and makes its financial statements readily available to the public.

Financial Crisis & Recovery

From 2009 to 2013, under then-President and CEO David C. Harvey, ProLiteracy faced severe financial issues, with a $1.8 million shortfall and a $1.7 million loss in net assets in 2012. Moving their headquarters to a revitalized warehouse and investing in the local

Syracuse, NY Syracuse ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, Yonkers, and Rochester. At the 2020 census, the city's p ...

community were contributing factors in the shortfall, including its newly-opened Ruth J. Colvin Center for Innovation and Excellence in Adult Literacy, a public computer lab designed to teach adults computer literacy. Six months after the move to ProLiteracy's new headquarters, Harvey resigned as President. Current CEO, Kevin J. Morgan, then Chairman of the Board of Directors since 2009, stated that Harvey "went on to pursue other opportunities in the Washington, D.C., area, and let's leave it at that." Morgan later added, "the good news is that David worked for ProLiteracy for five years and did a lot of great things for the organization." Despite this, Harvey's curriculum vitae, published on May 28, 2013, appears to refer to his financial performance at ProLiteracy as having "led a turn-around operation for a $9 million international organization." Harvey has been the Executive Director of the National Coalition of STD Directors since 2016. Morgan, who received his graduate degree in marketing from

Keller Graduate School of Management DeVry University () is a private for-profit university with its headquarters in Naperville, Illinois. It was founded in 1931 by Herman A. DeVry and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. DeVry is predominantly an online educator b ...

, was appointed Interim President and CEO, dividing his time between ProLiteracy and Full Suspension Marketing, a small, Utah-based startup and marketing agency he founded in 2007. The ProLiteracy Board of Directors then "formed a search committee for a new president and CEO," said Morgan, concluding that "sometimes it happens quickly, other times it may take some time, depending on who you talk to".
The organization was forced to develop a new strategic plan in 2013
Despite raising over $1 million in charitable donations to refurbish ProLiteracy's new headquarters in the midst of the crisis, it faced a shortfall of $1.2 million in 2013, receiving a 1-star rating on

Charity Navigator Charity Navigator is a charity assessment organization that evaluates hundreds of thousands of charitable organizations based in the United States, operating as a free 501(c)(3) organization. It provides insights into a nonprofit’s financial ...

following nearly a decade of fluctuating between 1- and 3-stars, which had prompted Harvey's 2010 public criticism of the charity watchdog as an "imperfect way to assess". During the following fiscal year, ProLiteracy downsized considerably, laying off several of its full-time staff and shutting down budding investments into the local

community. Furthermore, ProLiteracy reduced its international involvement from 30 to 20 countries. In effect, ProLiteracy ended its 2014 fiscal year with $3 million in revenues less expenses and nearly double their net assets, from $3.3 to $6.3 million. The search committee dissolved, as did Morgan's marketing agency, and he remains President and CEO to this day. In 2017, ProLiteracy was awarded its first 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, a composite of a 3-star rating in financial health and 4-star rating in accountability and transparency.

Awards

* In 2019, ProLiteracy was named a Tier 2 Winner for the Barbara Bush Foundation Xprize Award. Presented by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation in the Communities Competition. * In 2019, Proliteracy Worldwide received the 2019

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

Literacy Awards

David M. Rubenstein David Mark Rubenstein (born August 11, 1949) is an American billionaire businessman. A former government official and lawyer, he is a co-founder and co-chairman of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group, *In 2018, the

named ProLiteracy as an Honoree in the

Adult Literacy Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...

Program category for the 2018 Literacy Awards. * In 2016,

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

awarded ProLiteracy Worldwide with the Community Partner Award from the

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

’s Award for Public Engagement and Scholarship. * In 2015
CenterState CEO
of Syracuse presented ProLiteracy with the 2015 Community Visionary Award.

References

External links

ProLiteracyNew Readers Press

BBB Wise Giving Alliance Report: ProLiteracy Worldwide

GuideStar Basic Report: ProLiteracy Worldwide (registration required)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Proliteracy Worldwide Reading (process) Non-profit organizations based in New York (state) Volunteer efforts in Syracuse, New York