ProLiteracy, also known as ProLiteracy Worldwide, is an international

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

organization that supports

literacy Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

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

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

, 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 who 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.Thoma ...

among the

Maranao The Maranao people ( Maranao: ''Bangsa'' ''Mëranaw''; Filipino: ''mga'' ''Maranaw''), also spelled Meranaw, Maranaw, and Mëranaw, is a predominantly Muslim Filipino ethnic group native to the region around Lanao Lake in the island of Mi ...

people of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, 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, New York, in 1955. Literacy Volunteers of America was founded in 1962 by

Ruth Johnson Colvin Ruth Johnson Colvin (December 16, 1916 – August 18, 2024) was an American philanthropist who was the founder of the non-profit organization Literacy Volunteers of America, now called ProLiteracy Worldwide in Syracuse, New York, in 1962. She wa ...

, 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 continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

partner programs in developing countries in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

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

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

, and

environmental sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

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

volunteer Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...

and adult basic education affiliates in 49 states and the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. 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 over 225 novels, known for romance novel, romance published under her own name. She also writes police procedurals which have elements of science fiction ...

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 recognized at ...

awarded from a

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

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

Accountability standards

* Charity Watch 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. It is the product of the February 2019 merger of GuideStar with Foundation Center. ...

'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 S ...

(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 and 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. With a population of 148,620 and a metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13th-most populated municipality in the state o ...

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, 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 more than 230,000 charitable organizations based in the United States, operating as a 501(c)(3) organization. It provides insights into a nonprofit's financial stability, adh ...

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 a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Literacy Awards David M. Rubenstein Prize (US$150,000). *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 educating activities in order to gain new knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralph G. ''The Pr ...

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, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

awarded ProLiteracy Worldwide with the Community Partner Award from the

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

’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 Organizations promoting literacy Non-profit organizations based in New York (state) Volunteer efforts in Syracuse, New York