NCFL & Family Literacy
Foundation Partners
Get to know NCFL’s current foundation partners!
NCFL’s partnerships with forward-thinking national foundations have consistently resulted in progressive national and local literacy initiatives that lead to positive results for parents and children nationwide. The substantial investment and trust of these partners has helped NCFL blaze new trails and take risks that have been essential to the organization’s growth, knowledge and leadership.
The William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust
NCFL’s founding partner, The William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, invested in family literacy and NCFL even before the organization opened its doors — when it was little more than a groundbreaking idea with tremendous potential 20 years ago. The Kenan Trust has continued its commitment to NCFL and family literacy over the years, investing more than $10 million in NCFL and its work. Most recently the Kenan Trust helped NCFL establish the Hispanic Family Learning Institute, a concerted effort to develop resources and disseminate information about improving educational services for Hispanic/Latino and other immigrant families in the United States.
MetLife Foundation
NCFL and MetLife Foundation formed a dynamic partnership in 2008 that is committed to giving adult learners in family programs the support and resources they need to succeed as they transition to higher education. Fueled by a $300,000 two-year grant, NCFL is developing a systematic approach for using community colleges as a stepping stone for adult learners, many of whom are also parents. Activities of the Family Literacy Community College Initiative include conducting a best-practices assessment of existing family literacy/community college partnerships; developing and testing new tools and resources for programs, community colleges and families; and widely disseminating the resources and findings of the project.
Anneberg Foundation
NCFL is partnering with the Annenberg Foundation to build new and cutting-edge web-based resources for the literacy field and parents. This grant is funding an important part of NCFL’s strategic plan: to reach more families with literacy tools and information than ever before. While literacy teachers and volunteers will always be a core audience for NCFL, this partnership is helping NCFL tap new opportunities for reaching parents and children directly through technology. In addition, the partnership has developed resources to improve parent involvement in schools. Another recent grant from the Annenberg Foundation resulted in a research-based and systematic framework to help schools improve strategies for parent involvement, a critical component of childhood academic achievement.
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Since 1994, the support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has brought about significant change for NCFL, transforming our work, the family literacy field and the lives of families throughout the nation. Beyond generous financial investments totaling more than $5 million, Knight Foundation support has been a magnet for other initiatives and funding, and the underpinning for a much wider body of work. Recent efforts of this partnership include a national public service announcement campaign for family literacy managed by the Ad Council and the support of effective new strategies for working with low-literate English language learners in the Cambodian Technical Assistance Project. NCFL has leveraged these initiatives and other Knight investments to perpetuate true change and grow the family literacy movement nationwide.
Carnegie Corporate of New York
The Carnegie Corporation of New York first invested in NCFL with a grant to break new ground in addressing the low reading achievement of a much underserved age group — adolescents and pre-adolescents. As a result, NCFL identified effective instructional approaches and created a framework for parent involvement with older children. NCFL’s partnership with the Corporation continued in 2007 with its financial and program staff contributions to the exciting Hispanic Family Learning Summit held at NCFL’s Conference in March 2007.
Annie E. Casey Foundation
The Annie E. Casey Foundation and NCFL are teaming up to improve family literacy services within the Foundation’s already substantial efforts to educate and serve families. By delivering technical assistance to the Foundation’s Making Connections programs, NCFL is expanding the use of proven family literacy strategies and practices and honing its capacity to deliver customized technical assistance services in Making Connections communities.