Urban Alliance for Adult Literacy
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Cultural Festival, Washington D.C.
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Poster seen outside DCity Smokehouse in Washington, DC.
Upcoming Greenhouse Meetings (webinars)
Title: The California Adult Education Consortium Model
Date and time: Monday, June 1, 2026 from 12-1:30 PM PT/ 3-4:30 ET
Description: In this Urban Alliance for Adult Literacy Greenhouse Meeting (webinar) you can learn about the innovative adult education model that supports learners in California; how and why it came to be, and its impact on learners, partnerships, and programs.
Presenter: Dr. Carolyn Zachry serves as the State Director and Education Administrator for the Adult Education Office within the Career and College Transition Division (CCTD) at the California Department of Education (CDE). In this role, she oversees the administration and management of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Title II grant and co-administers California's state-funded Adult Education Program. Dr. Zachry is also a member of the Board of Directors for the National Association of State Directors of Adult Education, where she helps shape policies and initiatives for adult education on a national scale.
Link to Required Registration:
https://proliteracy-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/NiZOp988RFC6NQQtNBy5ng
Title: Model of an adult literacy urban and state organization that offers program grants and professional development to community-based adult literacy/foundational education programs
Date/Time: Monday, June 8, 2026 from 3 - 4:30 ET
Description: Created as the Boston Adult Literacy Fund (BALF) in the early 1980's and later re-named First Literacy, this adult literacy fund has succeeded for over forty years. Our two presenters, co-founder Silja Kallenbach, and current Executive Director Terry Witherell, will describe the origins, early stages, and current model. They will highlight key strategies that have led to its success without depending on public funding. There will be ample time to ask questions, get advice, and to talk about what your AFE program, network, or coalition might do to create your own urban or state adult literacy fund.
Presenters:
Terry Witherell is an experienced leader in mission-driven organizations, including higher education, fundraising organizations, youth and young adults, and social justice. Currently serving as Executive Director for First Literacy, with overall strategic and operational responsibility, comprising its staff, programs, finance, fundraising, expansion, communications, and execution of its mission.
Silja Kallenbach is co-founder of the Boston Adult Literacy Fund (now First Literacy) where she served as Associate Director 1988-1994. Silja led the planning of the Fund while working as Director of Adult Literacy and Refugee Services for the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Jobs and Community Services. From 1994 until 2022, Silja worked at World Education’s US Division as Director of the New England Literacy Resource Center and then as Vice President until her retirement. Currently, Silja volunteers for the Boston Immigrant Justice Accompaniment Network and serves as co-facilitator of a Community Aid team in her neighborhood in Boston.
Link to required registration:
https://proliteracy-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/PDIFS7p1QnKVKPu82PpBVw
Recent and Past Recorded Greenhouse Meetings (webinars) and Other Presentations
Urban Alliance for Adult Literacy Steering Committee members did a presentation at the annual COABE Conference, in Indiana on April 13, 2026. You will find a link to the slides they presented here.
The Urban Alliance has hosted the following recorded Greenhouse Meetings (webinars). You will find links below to the recordings, and/or to slides that were presented. Each Greenhouse Meeting includes an opportunity for questions, comments and conversations. For more information, contact us at urbanallianceforadultliteracy@gmail.com .
Topics to date (most recent listed first) have included:
Workplace Education for U.S. Cities: How Urban Adult Foundational Education (AFE) Networks Can Support Incumbent Workers and Employers
April 2, 2026
Over the 40 years of its existence, the Literacy Center of West Michigan has become a trusted partner in the region, collaborating with a broad variety of community institutions and organizations. In particular, the organization has led as a provider of workplace-based ESL in partnership with dozens of employers across multiple sectors since 2001. This workshop will tell the story of some of those partnerships and the way that they have made possible a sustained and significant growth of the Literacy Center’s impact. Key principles for engaging with employers will be shared in order to equip you in your own communities.
In this Greenhouse Meeting (Webinar) we discussed a brief history of workplace basic skills efforts in the U.S. and how the Literacy Center of West Michigan provides basic skills supports to incumbent workers and their employers;
Presenters:
Marcus Little (Senior Director of Programming, Literacy Center of West Michigan, Grand Rapids) and Paul Jurmo (Co-Founder and steering committee member, Urban Alliance for Adult Literacy). David Rosen (Co-Founder and steering committee member, Urban Alliance for Adult Literacy) served as moderator.
Video Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12A0PYmGVlphwRqSJztuNHrlWqaHVClLx/view?usp=sharing
Slide set 2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SAH2fea_q2qdBdvPKnjy75R3_MacQTlW/view?usp=sharing
Not “Business as Usual”: How Urban AFE Networks Can Help Immigrant Learners and Communities Manage Multiple, Interwoven Challenges
February 10, 2026
In this 90-minute session the three presenters discussed: (1) why AFE advocates need to understand the multiple challenges and opportunities that their immigrant learners, communities, and programs are now facing; (2) key challenges that local immigrant-serving programs and national organizations are now seeing; and (3) collaborative strategies that AFE advocates and community partners can use to respond to those challenges.
Presenters: Ahoo Salem (Executive Director, Blue Ridge Literacy, Roanoke VA), Jacob Hofstetter (Policy Analyst, Migration Policy Institute), Jeff Hutcheson (Director, Advocacy and Public Policy, TESOL International Association)
Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aIC2um7xHSr6UQ8xelGyxq_TsUOIxVhX/view?usp=sharing
What Happens When Adults Get Access to ESOL? Evidence from a Research–Practice Partnership
Feb 3, 2026
There is a 60-minute recorded presentation and Q & A by Framingham Adult ESL Plus (FAESL) Executive Director Dr. Kevin O'Connor, and researchers Dr. Blake Heller, and Dr. Kirsten Slungaard Mumma about their research-practice partnership evaluating the impacts of FAESL, a public adult ESOL program in Massachusetts, on participants' employment, earnings, and civic engagement. The presenters provided an overview of the FAESL Program, their partnership, and the challenges and benefits of working together to generate policy-relevant research. Drawing on real-world enrollment lotteries from FAESL, Heller and Slungaard Mumma presented findings demonstrating how adult English classes influence learners’ lives by improving job prospects and earnings over time, as well as by increasing voting and voter registration rates. The presenters focused on what these findings imply for policymakers and funders, highlighting how relatively modest investments in adult ESOL can generate long-lasting benefits for learners, communities, and taxpayers. The session emphasizes takeaways that instructors, program leaders, and policymakers can use when advocating for adult foundational education and the mutual benefits of research-practice partnerships.
Video Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GMU62htEviwV4P8gEB8b2gUYOTFPmj6a/view?usp=sharing
Chat: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G_ok84v8F5h6N6TcYFAdkYG8J_7en3kx/view?usp=sharing Note: there is a link to the study itself in the chat.
Career Pathways in Urban Communities
October 28, 2025
Presenters described lessons learned in research they conducted on career pathway initiatives in three U.S cities (Chicago, Houston, and Miami. A summary of this research will be found here. The presenters were:
Dr. Carol Clymer (Associate Professor, Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy and the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy in the College of Education at Pennsylvania State University has over 45 years of experience implementing and evaluating programs for adult learners their families. She has written and managed federal, state, local, and privately funded grant projects securing millions of dollars in funding and has an extensive presentation and publication record.
Dr. Esther Prins (Professor, Lifelong Learning and Adult Education Program, Penn State; Co-Director, Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy and Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy. Dr. Prins employs critical and sociocultural theories to examine literacies (adult, family, digital, health) and adult basic education (ABE), particularly the “wider benefits” of adult education.
Dr. Marcela Movit (Director, Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy and Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy. Dr. Movit has led state and federal efforts related to building teacher and program capacity to better support adult learners.Career Pathways in Urban Communities
Slides: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CXhWrl35S_Z6CRSIFu_M1guyZjyR4SNi/view?usp=sharing
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
September 23, 2025
This Greenhouse Meeting (Webinar) was co-sponsored by the Urban Alliance for Adult Literacy and by the Open Door Collective of Literacy Minnesota.
The Right Question Institute (RQI), https://rightquestion.org/, is a nonprofit organization that offers educators, direct service providers, and advocates a practical, effective method to add to their toolkit for supporting the people and communities they serve.
This training provided people working in adult foundational education with a method that helps students develop the skills for asking better questions and participating more effectively in decisions.
Educators left this training with a practical tool to help students:
Strengthen their ability to think and learn independently, in the classroom and beyond
Build their confidence and ability to participate in decisions that affect their lives, families, and communities, and
Navigate systems, advocate, and take action on their own behalf.
Facilitators:
Luz Santana - Co-Founder | Naomi Campbell - Program Director | Keila Perez - Program Associate
About RQI: RQI’s methods were developed in partnership with adult foundational educators and have been the focus of their decades of work with educational institutions, health care organizations, social service organizations, legal services, community-based organizations, and public agencies across the country and beyond.
In the field of education, RQI’s Question Formulation Technique has become a classic pedagogical tool for stimulating engagement and deeper learning. The book by RQI co-founders Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana — Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions (2011) — is one of Harvard Education Press’ all-time top sellers. Over 400,000 educators in diverse settings are now using the technique in all 50 states and over 150 countries.
Video Recording:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vQi6Mr_g5zUoe-b9krtz-xOnMb3QBQo6/view
Slides:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16wOlNEp0KeuhyWnpHWYX4nuiexihl6cJ/view?usp=sharing
City-sponsored Adult Literacy/Adult Foundational Education Initiatives
June 5, 2025
This Greenhouse Meeting, sponsored by the Open Door Collective, a national project of Literacy Minnesota, and the Urban Alliance for Adult literacy, a national affiliate project of ProLiteracy, had over 130 registrants and over sixty participants indicating great interest in the topic. It featured three panelists: Brooke Machado, Manager of the Adult Literacy Initiative (ALI) in the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development; Christine Hauck, Executive Director of Adult Education in the Mayor’s Office of Education in the City of Philadelphia, and Jacqueline “Jackie” Aguilera, Project Manager for the Mayor’s Office for Adult Literacy in the City of Houston.
Panelists shared: the history and development of their city's adult literacy/adult foundational education initiative; how their mayoral offices for adult literacy are organized, including staffing and key partnerships; funding opportunities and challenges; and much more.
Video recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pVlmK6tQMF4SwlJYdLOXtzKiZ_PMbFaD/view?usp=sharing
Zoom Chat: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13yHYdhXGI199l9Zb1s8qSx7nfgoimuDO/view?usp=sharing
How Adult Foundational Education Networks Can Support Learner Leadership
May 27, 2025
The Greenhouse Meeting (webinar) began with a brief overview of why and how adult foundational education (AFE) programs might make the development of adult learner leadership an important part of their missions. We then learned how programs in Muskegon, MI, and across communities nationally, support learners as leaders and how other AFE programs and coalitions might do so. We set aside time for interaction between the presenters and attendees. Attendees were encouraged to visit the presenters’ websites listed below to familiarize themselves with the presenters’ work.
Presented by: Melissa Moore, Executive Director, Read Muskegon, readmuskegon.org; Anna May Lathrop, Adult Learner Leader, Rosa Guzman Snyder, Co-founder and Principal Consultant, Community Language Cooperative, communitylanguagecoop.com; and Paul Jurmo, Urban Alliance for Adult Literacy Steering Committee
Video recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DFYlWakYHU4rlR09OeIgNEXYqQcp3AQJ/view?usp=sharing
Zoom Chat: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zOOn7yYmo_LOBjcR8AnsZFNwsAvQenYK/view?usp=sharing
How Adult Foundational (Literacy) Education Networks Can Support Urban Environmental Sustainability.
May 6, 2025
The Greenhouse Meeting began with a brief overview of the “who’s, why’s, and how’s” of collaborations between adult foundational (literacy) education providers and “eco-partners” (stakeholders who in various ways support environmental sustainability and green jobs). This was followed by a presentation of Roots of Success a national program that helps adults and youth succeed in green jobs and support environmental sustainability more generally. Registrants were encouraged to prepare for this session by viewing the Roots of Success website ( https://rootsofsuccess.org ) and reading Greening U.S. Adult Basic Skills Efforts: How Eco-Partners and Adult Educators Can Work Together (https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/4b259097-f77f-4c70-813c-4cff11dc6161/downloads/ODC%20Eco-Partners%20Can-Do%20Guide%209-30-19.pdf?ver=1744224323180 ).
Presenters:
Raquel Pinderhughes, Ph.D.: Professor of Urban Studies & Planning, San Francisco State University and Founder & Executive Director of Roots of Success: https://rootsofsuccess.org
Paul Jurmo, Ed.D: Adult educator with special interest and experience in this workshop’s topic and member of the Steering Committee of the Urban Alliance for Adult Literacy: https://pauljurmo.info
Video recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eJ42AVUhIm3NFP_GKnvyndG_w0qL3UVu/view?usp=sharing
How Urban AFE Networks Support Immigrant and Refugee Communities: Updates from Boston, Massachusetts and Chicago, Illinois
March 28, 2025
Continuing the Urban Alliance for Adult Literacy series on the theme of “adult foundational education (AFE) for immigrants and refugees,” representatives of two urban AFE coalitions (networks) described the immigrant and refugee communities they try to support, how those networks are working with partners to serve them and lessons the partnerships have learned along the way.
Presenters:
Brooke Machado is Senior Program Manager for Adult Education in Boston’s Office of Workforce Development. She oversees adult education initiatives for Boston Mayor’s Worker Empowerment Cabinet and manages the Adult Literacy Initiative (ALI), a coalition of 33 Boston-based adult education providers.
Becky Raymond is the Executive Director of scaleLIT (formerly the Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition). She oversees the organization's portfolio of programs in health literacy, workforce development and adult literacy.
Video recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ztf3tX5SpZ4s0wGJkd6pbFvRnAPxqRrU/view?usp=drive_link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1llml-VRi8-5oZw15ooAzn6C3VoAn4M9i/view?usp=sharing
How Urban AFE Networks Support Immigrant and Refugee Communities: Updates from Roanoke, Virginia and Grand Rapids, Michigan
Jan 29, 2025
Representatives of two urban adult foundational education networks or partnerships talked about the immigrant and refugee communities they try to support, how those networks are working with partners to serve them and lessons the partnerships have learned along the way. This follows up on two Urban Alliance immigration-focused Greenhouse Meetings (Webinars) held on October 11 and 18, 2024. (See Past Recorded Greenhouse Meetings below for recordings.)
Presenters:
Ahoo Salem, Ph.D: Ahoo is the Executive Director of Blue Ridge Literacy (BRL), a non-profit organization based in the Roanoke, Virginia, Main Library that leverages partnerships to provide English literacy services and to bridge informational gaps for adults in Southwest Virginia. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Milan University, Italy, specializing in immigrant integration and equitable resource access.
Wendy VerHage Falb, Ph.D: Wendy is the Executive Director of the Literacy Center of West Michigan, the largest CBO for adult literacy in Michigan serving 1300 adults annually. Deeply committed to equitable educational outcomes for all, Wendy served as president of the Grand Rapids Public Board of Education as well as on other civic and community boards. Wendy has a Ph.D. in English from Michigan State University, specializing in poetry and cultural theory.
The (three sets of) slides will be found at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1n84FkYmORV5AZndj7zP4auKH8GhLVZiq?usp=sharing
A recording of the webinar, unfortunately, is not available.
Through Advocacy, How Urban AFE Coalitions (Networks or initiatives) Can Increase State and Local Public Funding for Member Programs and/or for Their Coalition
January 17, 2025
This was the first in a series of Greenhouse Meetings (webinars) about advocacy, e.g. strategies our field uses to generate financial support for our work from public (local, state or federal government) and non-governmental sources. This one features AFE organizations at state and urban levels that have successfully generated such supports.
Presenters:
Ira Yankwitt has taught high school equivalency, managed a community-based adult literacy program, and trained teachers and administrators. He is a longtime adult literacy advocate. Prior to becoming the Executive Director of the Literacy Assistance Center in 2012, he was the Executive Director of Program Initiatives for the New York City Department of Education’s Office of Adult and Continuing Education. He plays a lead role in the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy (NYCCAL), and he is the architect of the LAC’s Literacy & Justice Initiative, a project designed to align adult literacy education with broader movements for civil rights, human rights, and racial and economic justice.
Roberta Soolman is Executive Director of Literacy Volunteers of Massachusetts (LVM), the state’s leading provider of free, confidential and individualized tutoring to adults in basic literacy and ESOL. She is Board President of the Massachusetts Coalition for Adult Education, and she has successfully led advocacy efforts to increase state funding for adult basic education which is currently at $59 million. She is also an elected member of the Massachusetts ABE Directors’ Council and has served on numerous policy task forces and committees for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Patrick Brown was the Director of Adult Student Attainment Strategy at the Michigan College Access Network and former Executive Director of the Michigan Adult, Community and Alternative Education Association, an advocacy organization that promotes the importance of adult, alternative, community education and integrated education and training across Michigan. In his role at MACAE he successfully advocated for a statewide initiative that now provides public funding for not-for-profit adult literacy organizations.
Video recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I_PMQyoY_e29GSzwXQwcj7CJIHaWOK-B/view?usp=sharing
Slides: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1OPtkT2VIiwdC0o9F2avtfD2g1p63Z_ei?usp=sharing
Massachusetts Needs an Actionable Strategy to Expand ESOL Services
October 18, 2024
Pesenters: Benjamin Forman from MassINC and Dr. Kerry Spitzer from the Donahue Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Video recording, transcript, chat and audio file will be found at:
If needed, the passcode is: 2=ktwfiu
English Plus Integration: Shifting the Instructional Paradigm for Immigrant Adult Learners to Support Integration Success
October 11 2024
Presenter: Jacob Hofstetter, Policy Analyst, Migration Policy Institute.
Video and audio recordings, slides, audio transcript and Zoom Chat:
If needed, the Passcode is D%.6?BeF
Digital Equity Act funds available now: What adult educators need to know,
August 26, 2024
Presenter: Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, Senior Fellow, National Skills Coalition.
Zoom recording of presentation with slides. Slides
Family Literacy for Stronger Urban Communities
June 17, 2024
Presenters: Anna Kaiper-Marquez,Director of Family Literacy at National Center for Families Learning and Melissa Moore, Executive Director at Read Muskegon and Urban Alliance Steering Committee member. Zoom recording of presentation with slides, Audio Transcript, Chat Messages and more. https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/ziBfO9VW4FUIgogwFS8mi170Muma-KtWMuj-jwhbvNnvXy3v9Z6rFyA2PQzjyQ-D.fcTEjRmSnekYBMeS?startTime=1718643690000 Passcode: +8YnZ^*1 Link to the slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18UeD8rB7PEFmPeEP2lAUAYRE-dNNId5O/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106592927434776080960&rtpof=true&sd=true
Community-Oriented Adult Foundational Education in Urban Areas
May 29, 2024
Presenters: Paul Jurmo, consultant in Adult Foundational Education development, Washington, D.C. and Jessica Tomkins, Chief Operating Officer at Literacy New Jersey.
Slides Recording of Presentation with chat (note: the recording requires this password: *UK4@Qk& ), summary, transcripted segments, and next steps (Note: you may want to download and play the recording from your desktop with an mp4 player.)
An Introduction to Urban Adult Foundational Education Coalitions
April 22, 2024
Presenters: Urban Alliance Steering Committee members: David J. Rosen; President, Newsome Associates, Boston, MA; Paul Jurmo, consultant in Adult Foundational Education development, Washington, D.C.; Laureen Atkins-Holliday, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at The Literacy Cooperative, Cleveland Ohio; Melissa Moore, Executive Director at Read Muskegon; and Steve Hannum, Community Outreach Manager at The Literacy Council, Birmingham, AL.
The Houston Texas Adult Literacy Initiative
April 18, 2023
Presenter: Federico Salas-Isnardi, Director of the Mayor's Office for Adult Literacy.
Slides Recording of Presentation (Note: You may want to download and play the recording from your desktop with an mp4 player such as the free VLC media player.)
The Digital Equity Act,
March 21, 2023
Presenter: Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, Senior Fellow at the National Skills Coalition.
Slides Recording of presentation (Note: if you cannot play the recording, download and then open it with an mp4 player such as the free VLC media player.)
The GOAL Collective, an AFE collective impact model in Nashville, Tennessee
February 7, 2023
Presenter: Associate Executive Director, Ameshica Linsey.
Slides (Note: Scroll down to see slides; don't open with Google Docs.)
How AFE Can Support Equitable Workforce and Economic Development
January 17, 2023
Presenter: Paul Jurmo, Consultant in Adult Foundational Education development, Washington, D.C.
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