About | Literacy Works

About: About Us

Our vision is that one day, literacy will be recognized as a basic human right, supporting people along their journey to read, write, and interpret the world.

About Us

Founded on principles of popular education, Literacy Works supports adult literacy education and communication equity through our Community Literacy and Clear Language Lab programs.

We stand as a key resource to community-based literacy programs, providing low-cost, high quality educational guidance and support. For most programs in Chicago and throughout Illinois, Literacy Works serves as a central source of professional development, networking, and peer learning.

As educators, we believe that access to information is essential for a just society. Our Clear Language Lab offers training, consulting, and coaching services to nonprofit and governmental organizations in a variety of sectors. We work with organizations across the country to make their communications more clear, accessible, and equitable.

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Community Literacy

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As a broad and impactful program, Literacy Works’ Community Literacy project builds capacity within adult literacy programs throughout Illinois by providing high-quality training sessions for new and experienced tutors, teaching staff, and program administrators. Workshops are attended by adult literacy practitioners from our network of nearly 60 member and partner agencies.

Our 12-hour Tutor Essentials trainings reflect current best practices for working with adult learners in ABE and ESL settings, promoting such important concepts as the principles of adult learning. Our Continuing Education trainings go beyond this initial tutor training, providing experienced tutors and literacy professionals with innovative approaches and tools to improve their practice. Each year, Literacy Works reaches more than 300 adult literacy practitioners through these workshops.

At the same time, we recognize that trainings alone are not enough to provide comprehensive community support to adult literacy programs. For this reason we’ve developed several opportunities for adult education practitioners to connect, share ideas, and build community. Because we are a trusted source of information and connection for many adult education programs, we were able to learn from our members about their experiences related to the high level of staff turnover in the adult education field. Because of our strong relationship with our members, we are able to advocate on their behalf for more funding and better working conditions.

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Clear Language Lab

Information is power. We believe that mission-driven organizations across all sectors — healthcare, legal aid, social services, workforce development, and more — have a duty to center audiences and create everyday communications that are clear, inclusive, and useful.

We believe that communication designed with a lens of plain language, an emphasis on design justice values, and a strength-based approach are essential foundations for more equitable systems. We believe in creating content that rejects oppressive norms and advances anti-racist principles, justice, and liberation for all.

Through our work in adult education, we have seen first hand the need to address the systemic barriers that many people face, especially those that have been historically harmed by systems. Everyday activities such as understanding information at the doctor's office, filling out government forms, getting help during a crisis, and other critical everyday matters simply shouldn't be so hard for anyone, especially for the people who need the information the most. That's why we created the Clear Language Lab in 2018.

Now, the Lab trains more than 800 professionals in clear communication

strategies annually. We provide plain language editing, in-house and custom

trainings, and coaching and consulting for mission-driven organizations.

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Our Values

We center humans over systems.

Processes and policies should work for the people they serve.

We cultivate joy.

Hope and connection are present in everything we do.

We are all teachers and learners.

Everyone has something to teach from their unique lived experiences - education is richer when we learn from each other.

We prioritize access to education and information.

Making it easy for people to get what they need should be the norm.

We challenge oppression.

Pushing back against the tenets of white supremacy culture while making space for hard conversations is integral to our mission.

We respond to the needs of our community.

Our work is driven by active listening and reflection because learning in community is a collaborative process.

Our Impact

Literacy Works is proud to share insights from our work in our Fiscal Year 2024 Impact Report. Through our Community Literacy and Clear Language Lab programs, we continue to deepen our connection to the communities we serve through responsive programming and increased capacity.

This past year, our programs provided training to more than 2100 individuals who represented more than 460 organizations. We are honored to do this work with a strong network of support. We invite you to read our 2024 Impact Report to learn more.

Read the latest report