Who We Are

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Our Mission

ProLiteracy champions the power of literacy to improve the lives of adults and their families, communities, and societies.

• We believe in the power of literacy to end poverty, injustice, discrimination, and violence.
• We believe that literacy empowers adults to make a better life and world for themselves and their families.
• We know that adults who read raise children who read and do better in school and life.
• We know that literacy helps families, be healthier, support themselves through work, be better citizens, and create a more fair and just society.

ProLiteracy works with our members, partners, and the adult learners they serve; along with local, national, and international organizations. ProLiteracy helps build the capacity and quality of programs that are teaching adults to read, write, compute, use technology, and learn English as a new language by:

• Advocating for public policies and legislation that benefit adult learners and the people and programs that serve them
• Providing professional development and training, technical assistance, publications, online resources, and credentialing services for program directors, instructors, trainers, and volunteer tutors working with adult learners in the U.S.
• Working internationally with existing non-governmental agencies to create programs that combine native language literacy lessons with community projects related to the environment, economic self-sufficiency, education, health, family literacy, and peace/conflict resolution using a methodology called Literacy for Social Change
• Publishing educational materials that address the learning needs and difficulties of adult learners and of youths in grades 6-10. ProLiteracy produces the only weekly newspaper written in plain English. Proceeds from sales of these materials through New Readers Press, our publishing division, support ProLiteracy’s programs.
• Sponsoring an annual conference that offers workshops, presentations, and special sessions on the most up-to-date research, instruction techniques, and program management skills; provides opportunities for networking among peers; and includes an exhibit hall with the latest products for adult literacy instruction.