Urban Alliance for Adult Literacy
Urban Alliance for Adult Literacy Year-End Report for 2025
Prepared by Lauren Osowski, David J. Rosen, Paul Jurmo, and other
Urban Alliance Steering Committee Members
March 15, 2026
FOREWORD
The Urban Alliance for Adult Literacy (aka “Urban Alliance”) is a national network of urban adult foundational education (AFE) coalitions and individuals who support urban AFE. Its purpose is to provide participating coalitions and individuals with opportunities to share their successes and challenges and learn from and possibly collaborate with other urban AFE coalitions. This report describes Urban Alliance and its activities in the 12-month period between our last report (issued on January 17, 2025) and December 2025.
WHAT WE HOPED TO ACHIEVE
At the start of the year, we set the following goals for the Urban Alliance:
Promote individual and urban coalition membership application information
Offer 3-6 Greenhouse Meetings
Expand membership in Urban Café discussion group
Promote Urban Alliance at conferences and other events
Expand the membership of the Steering Committee
WHAT WE ACHIEVED
We promoted individual and urban coalition membership application information through our Greenhouse Meetings (webinars), through emails to those on our mailing list, through our website, and through contacts to colleagues of our steering committee members. As a result, we added five new Urban Cafe members, 24 new individual members and two new coalition members.
We also promoted the Urban Alliance in the following ways:
ProLiteracy’s Monday announcements of our Greenhouse Meetings (webinars)
Presentation at Network, the annual Massachusetts Coalition for Adult Education conference
Collaborative sponsorship of webinars with the Open Door Collective of Literacy Minnesota
We increased the active membership of the Urban Alliance Steering Committee, adding Lizzie Rose, and welcoming back Steering Committee Member Steve Hannum who was on leave. Current membership includes ten Steering Committee members.
We offered the following eight Greenhouse Meetings (webinars) that are described more fully in Appendix B,, and with links to recordings and slides on our website at https://www.urbanallianceforadultliteracy.org/webinarspresentations.
Career Pathways in Urban Communities
A Right Question Institute Presentation: The Question Formulation Technique in Adult Foundational Education: A method for building student agency, fostering engagement, and strengthening self-advocacy skills
City-sponsored Adult Literacy/Adult Foundational Education Initiatives
How Adult Foundational Education Networks Can Support Learner Leadership
How Adult Foundational (Literacy) Education Networks Can Support Urban Environmental Sustainability
How Urban AFE Networks Support Immigrant and Refugee Communities: Updates from Boston, Massachusetts and Chicago, Illinois
How Urban AFE Networks Support Immigrant and Refugee Communities: Updates from Roanoke, Virginia and Grand Rapids, Michigan
Through Advocacy, How Urban AFE Coalitions (Networks or initiatives) Can Increase State and Local Public Funding for Member Programs and/or for Their Coalition
REFLECTIONS ON WHAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED AND LEARNED
We recognize several important achievements this year:
Significant numbers of additional individual and coalition members
A significant number of Greenhouse Meetings (webinars) with registrants often surpassing 100 people and most attendees staying on for the 30-minute unrecorded discussion after the presentation(s) and Q & A. - Carefully selected topics with expert presenters, timely and relevant topics, focus on “what can we do?”, highlight people doing great work to inspire others into action
Increased connections and collaborations across the field that help to strengthen networks - relationships that have been formed, sharing of best practices, making connections to then continue the work/relationship after
In 2025, we acquired the following understandings, including:
There is a strong and growing interest in adult foundational education coalitions (networks, organization collaborations, associations, etc.) in urban areas in the United States. Uncertainty and chaos lead to innovation and searching for new partners
As a volunteer organization, to date without funding, a great deal has been accomplished; with funding, a great deal more would be possible, especially if that funding could provide ways for the Urban Alliance to provide technical assistance and training for urban organizations that would like to create or strengthen urban coalitions.
There has continued to be a strong interest in the Urban Alliance Greenhouse meetings, and the Greenhouse Meeting Planning subcommittee has remained strong, again exceeding its numerical goals, and maintaining the quality of the Greenhouse Meetings. Several of these in 2025 have been co-sponsored by the Open Door Collective of Literacy Minnesota that has been a good partner with Urban Alliance, including inviting us to co-sponsor the Right Question Institute pilot project.
Greenhouse meetings are a benefit for everyone involved, including presenters. The presenters benefit personally and are able to share lessons learned with their organizations. Additionally, the Greenhouse Meetings provide visibility for the important work being done by AFE partners.
ANTICIPATED 2026 PROJECTS
In 2026, we anticipate undertaking the following activities and projects:
Continued offering of Greenhouse Meetings on relevant topics such as the role of AI in AFE
Completion and evaluation, with the Open Door Collective and the Right Question Institute, of the Right Question Pilot Project
Completion of draft outline of a guide for creating and strengthening Urban Coalitions, made possible by grant funding proposals to ProLiteracy with help in writing the guide from the Urban Alliance
Continued conference presentations, such as at COABE, to share information about the Urban Alliance more widely
Continued development of the Steering Committee to increase membership and add partners who are not directly part of the AFE world
Appendix A
Steering Committee Members as of December 2025
Nada Anasseri, Coordinator of Technology Projects, Outreach and Technical Assistance Network for California Adult Education (OTAN), Sacramento, CA
Steve Hannum, Director of Literacy Initiatives, the Literacy Council of Central Alabama, and the Literacy Providers Network, Birmingham, AL
Wendy Falb, Executive Director, the Literacy Center of West Michigan, Grand Rapids, MI
Ameshica Linsey, Associate Executive Director, GOAL Collective, Nashville, TN
Melissa Moore, Executive Director, Read Muskegon, and the Read Muskegon Literacy Collaborative, Muskegon, MI
Ahoo Salem, Executive Director, Blue Ridge Literacy, Roanoke, VA
David J. Rosen, President, Newsome Associates, Boston, MA
Paul Jurmo, Consultant, Adult Foundational Education for Development, Washington, D.C.
Lauren Osowski, Director of Advocacy & Field Services, ProLiteracy, Keene, NH (ProLiteracy liaison)
Appendix B
Greenhouse Meetings (webinars) Conducted in 2025
January 17, 2025 – Through Advocacy, How Urban AFE Coalitions (Networks or Initiatives) Can Increase State and Local Public Funding for Member Programs and/or for Their Coalition
Presented by: Ira Yankwitt, Roberta Soolman, and Patrick Brown
January 29, 2025 – How Urban AFE Networks Support Immigrant and Refugee Communities: Updates from Roanoke, VA and Grand Rapids, MI
Presented by: Ahoo Salem, Ph.D. and Wendy VerHage Falb, Ph.D.
March 28, 2025 – How Urban AFE Networks Support Immigrant and Refugee Communities: Updates from Boston, MA and Chicago, IL
Presented by: Brooke Machado and Becky Raymond
May 6, 2025 – How Adult Foundational (Literacy) Education Networks Can Support Urban Environmental Sustainability
Presented by: Raquel Pinderhughes, Ph.D. and Paul Jurmo, Ed.D.
May 27, 2025 – How Adult Foundational Education Networks Can Support Learner Leadership
Presented by: Melissa Moore, Rosa Guzman Snyder, and Paul Jurmo, Ed.D.
June 5, 2025 – City-Sponsored Adult Literacy/Adult Foundational Education Initiatives
Presented by: Brooke Machado, Christine Hauck, and Jacqueline Aguilera
September 23, 2025 – A Right Question Institute Presentation: The Question Formulation Technique in Adult Foundational Education: A method for building student agency, fostering engagement, and strengthening self-advocacy skills
Presented by: Luz Santana, Naomi Campbell, and Keila Perez
October 28, 2025 – Career Pathways in Urban Communities
Presented by: Dr. Carol Clymer, Dr. Esther Prins, and Dr. Marcela Movit
Appendix C
Topics in alphabetical order through 2025
in Urban Alliance Asynchronous Discussion Group
Community-oriented Urban Adult Literacy/Adult Foundational Education
Data about the field of adult foundational education/adult literacy education
Finding Topics in the Urban Adult Literacy Cafe discussion group (i.e. this list!)
How federal (or state or local) government decisions affect AFE programs and adult schools
Introductions (of Urban Adult Literacy Cafe' members)
Latest PIAAC Data continue to show that U.S. adult literacy and numeracy have declined
Pros and Cons of Using Volunteers in Urban Adult Foundational Education
Urban Adult Literacy/Adult Foundational Education Media Campaigns
Urban Family Literacy (aka Intergenerational or 2-generation literacy) Programs
Why Urban adult foundational education programs should form coalitions
Appendix D
Urban Alliance-Related Presentations Made by Steering Committee Members
May 7, 2025 – Urban Alliance for Adult Literacy
Presented by: Urban alliance Steering Committee members David J. Rosen and Lauren Osowski and two people from the Adult Literacy Initiative of greater Boston, Brooke Machado and Anna Fernandex Buehrens.
Urban Alliance for Adult Literacy Year-End Report for 2024
Prepared by Paul Jurmo and David Rosen
with Laureen Atkins-Holliday and Ann Leonard
January 17, 2025
The Urban Alliance for Adult Literacy (aka “Urban Alliance”) and formerly known as Urban CAFE', is a national network of urban adult foundational education (AFE) coalitions and individuals who support urban AFE. Its purpose is to provide participating coalitions and individuals with opportunities to share their successes and challenges and learn from and possibly collaborate with other urban AFE coalitions. This report describes the Urban Alliance and its activities in the 18-month period between our last report (issued on May 18, 2023) and December 2024. You will be able to see this report at https://drive.google.com/file/d/19hhdpDrUs5KiaeZGtjwoM_zgx5s09yrL/view?usp=sharing
Urban CAFE' Year-End Report for 2022-2023
Prepared by Paul Jurmo, David Rosen, Federico Salas-Isnardi and Laurie Atkins-Holliday
May 18, 2023
Urban CAFÉ (Urban Coalitions for Adult Foundational Education) is a national network of urban adult foundational education (AFE) coalitions. Its purpose is to provide participating coalitions and their members with opportunities to share their successes and challenges and learn from and possibly collaborate with other urban AFE coalitions. This report describes Urban CAFÉ and its activities to date. You will be able to see this report at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n7LTloweTRLVlznKBg4cv8DqhmtU1FMa/view?usp=sharing