Literacy Pittsburgh’s new strategic plan builds upon the three pillars we established in 2020: Ready, Relevant, and Sustainable. These priorities will continue to guide our work over the next three years as we grow and adapt to meet an increasing need for adult basic skills.
Ready maintains the goal that Literacy Pittsburgh will be agile, stable, and continuously improving. Our strategic challenge is strengthening our culture to collaborate, perform, include, and change.
Significantly, this section of the plan incorporates specific strategies to make diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility integral to Literacy Pittsburgh's culture and operations. These strategies reflect the aims of the DEIA Plan adopted in June 2022.
Strategies that support DEIA goals include:
- Build Literacy Pittsburgh’s workforce to represent the community we serve when possible.
- Increase supervisor/leader DEIA competencies through training and support and define how progress will be measured.
- Prioritize and improve compensation as the single most important and equitable benefit.
- Develop and implement a supplier diversity plan and participate in the Vibrant Pittsburgh Supplier Diversity Cohort.
- Institutionalize DEIA staff engagement activities and staff training.
- Institutionalize tutor and student voice and engagement through regular student and tutor surveys.
- Conduct DEIA training for tutors.
- Convene focus groups and use other mechanisms to learn from students and tutors when developing program enhancements.
- Engage the board in annual training and regular discussion while increasing membership of underrepresented groups on the board of directors.
- Increase annual scores on the Vibrant Index.
- Utilize existing communications tools to inspire, educate, and reinforce DEIA connections.
Increasing the impact of Literacy Pittsburgh’s work depends on including and welcoming diverse perspectives and backgrounds among staff, board, volunteers, and students. We are committed to working with urgency, patience, and humility to integrate diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility into our organizational fabric.
Literacy Pittsburgh (formerly Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council) helps create better lives through learning. Recognized as a national leader in adult and family literacy, Literacy Pittsburgh is the largest provider of adult basic education in Allegheny and Beaver Counties. Last year, Literacy Pittsburgh helped more than 4,000 individuals acquire the skills needed to reach their fullest potential in life and participate productively in their communities. Literacy Pittsburgh provides free, personalized instruction in workforce readiness, high school diploma test preparation, digital literacy, English language learning, math, reading, and family literacy through one-to-one and small class instruction. Founded in 1982, it serves local adults through numerous neighborhood locations and its Downtown Pittsburgh Learning Center.
