The Liz Smith Center for Adult & Family Literacy
The Liz Smith Center for Adult & Family Literacy
Our bold plan to educate 3,000 new students over the next five years – to honor the memory and extraordinary legacy of Liz Smith.
Our bold plan to educate 3,000 new students over the next five years – to honor the memory and extraordinary legacy of Liz Smith.
“ The greatest of all mistakes is to do nothing because you can only do a little. Do what you can.”
– Liz Smith
Literacy Partners Launches Campaign to Raise Funds for New Adult & Family Literacy Center in Honor of Liz Smith
We have established the new Center with $6 million in initial funding and have received leadership gifts of $2 million from the estate of Arnold Scaasi and Parker Ladd, $1.6 million from the New York State Education Department, and a $1 million pledge from the Dorothy Strelsin Foundation, along with $770K from 80+ individual benefactors.
With this funding, we have four important programs:
• Basic Literacy to Prepare People for Jobs
• High School Equivalency and College Transition Classes for Young Adults
• English for Immigrant Workers
• Science of Reading
Liz Smith & The Unique Role of Literacy Partners
Liz Smith was a passionate champion for adult literacy. Her 30+ years of leadership with Literacy Partners helped us teach more than 25,000 adults to read and write and to speak English more proficiently. The lives of our students and their families have been transformed by the experience: many got better jobs, helped their children succeed in school and earned high school equivalency degrees for themselves; some have even gone on to graduate from college.
Read more
Thanks to the generous support of the following patrons
We are nearing our goal of realizing the Liz Smith Center for Adult & Family Literacy.
Liz Smith Center Co-Chairs
Joni Evans
Lon Jacobs
Cynthia McFadden
Elizabeth Peabody
Joni Evans
Lon Jacobs
Cynthia McFadden
Elizabeth Peabody
Liz Smith Center Honorary Board
Barbara Taylor Bradford
Joan Ganz Cooney
Jacqueline Weld Drake
Katharine Raymond Hinton
Mellody Hobson
Todd Larsen
Mary Wells Lawrence
Mark Haas Foundation
NewsCorp
Sheila Nevins
Sabastian Niles
William Rondina
Lesley Stahl
John Studzinski
Mark Subias
Holland Taylor
Bruce and Emma Willis
Barbara Taylor Bradford
Joan Ganz Cooney
Jacqueline Weld Drake
Katharine Raymond Hinton
Mellody Hobson
Todd Larsen
Mary Wells Lawrence
Mark Haas Foundation
NewsCorp
Sheila Nevins
Sabastian Niles
William Rondina
Lesley Stahl
John Studzinski
Mark Subias
Holland Taylor
Bruce and Emma Willis