About+LitWorld

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LitWorld is a 501C3 nonprofit organization led by Executive Director Pam Allyn, a renowned literacy educator and advocate. We work to cultivate literacy leaders worldwide through transformational literacy experiences that build connection, understanding, resilience and strength. LitWorld joins together with teachers, parents, community members, and children to support the development of sustainable literacy practices across the world. LitWorld educates community members to become literacy leaders through easy-to-use programs and resources and creates access to print materials that will help all children learn to read and write. We believe that literate children will grow to be empowered, healthy and productive citizens. Our goal is universal literacy, and we work towards it through **//Advocacy//**, **//Education//** and **//Access//**.

Since LitWorld's founding in 2007, we have reached over 40,000 people in at least 35 countries through advocacy efforts, most particularly World Read Aloud Day. We advocate for global literacy through partnerships with organizations including Global Action for Children, Global Campaign for Education, Scholastic, and The Pearson Foundation's We Give Books initiative.
 * //Advocacy//**

We work with communities worldwide to identify and train local literacy leaders. After working with a community to discover its particular needs, we create a literacy strategy that starts with access to print and teacher leadership trainings, and leads to local leadership, building social franchises for literacy. Other programs support children and young adults in becoming joyful readers and writers. LitWorld Girls Clubs are running across the world, including in the United States, Kenya, Ghana, and Iraq, and the Resilience Project, writing workshops for children who have experienced trauma, is being launched in 2011.
 * //Education//**

We create access to both print and digital materials to help all children learn to read and write. LitWorld connects with publishers, including Scholastic and Penguin, to send books to our target sites around the world. We are also developing “Seven Strengths” picture books, written and illustrated specifically for children who would not otherwise have access to children’s literature. These resources draw on our belief that literacy is not just a responsibility and a necessity but a value and a joy.
 * //Access//**

//**What will LitWorld Accomplish?**// By 2014: Help one million children learn to read. By 2016: Equip ten thousand literacy leaders to effect change that will impact ten million children across the globe.


 * These are words changing worlds.**