Toyota: Committed to Families Moving Forward

Toyota, one of the nation’s most successful corporations, began a partnership with NCFL in 1991. In addition to a commitment of more than $35 million to establish model literacy programs throughout the country, Toyota has also contributed a wealth of in-kind support — including advertising, planning and management expertise — to form one of the most progressive corporate/nonprofit partnerships in the nation. 

Three major programs have been developed through the Toyota partnership based on the family literacy model of parents and children learning together. The models, as described below, have influenced federal and state legislation, leveraged local dollars to support family literacy and led to successful programs being replicated across the country.

As of today, Toyota has funded 226 family literacy sites in 43 cities and 27 states that have impacted the lives of more than one million families. Click here to see a map of sites. Following the tremendous success of the first Toyota initiative, subsequent programs have built upon the best practices identified by their predecessors.

And the partnership continues to grow.

Toyota Family Literacy Program (TFLP) — Improving the lives of immigrant families: Established in 2003, the TFLP is addressing the growing educational needs of Hispanic and other immigrant families by increasing English language and literacy skills for adults while also supporting their involvement in their children’s education. As of fall 2007, this program is active in 20 communities and 60 elementary schools across the country.

Toyota Families in Schools (TFS) — Reaching at-risk children: Established in 1998, TFS was designed to increase achievement of at-risk children from ages 5 to 12 by implementing strong family literacy services in elementary schools. The program emphasizes parents' roles as learners as well as supporters of their children's education.

Toyota Families for Learning (TFFL) — Supporting local programs, preparing preschool children: Established 1991, the TFFL program was created as an innovative approach to improving the education of preschool children and increasing economic stability within our country's most disadvantaged communities.

All Toyota programs use initial start-up funding for three years, while building local funding collaborations to sustain their operation after that three-year period has passed. This has been standard practice in every model program opened through NCFL since 1991.

In addition to these groundbreaking programs, NCFL and Toyota recognize family literacy teaching excellence annually with the Toyota Family Literacy Teacher of the Year Award.

The award is presented to an educator who demonstrates exemplary efforts to help parents and children achieve their academic, personal and professional goals. Areas such as curriculum development, student retention, special initiatives, teamwork and collaboration with program partners are among the skills taken into consideration.

The winner receives a trip to NCFL’s annual conference and a $5,000 grant for his/her program. Several finalists also receive scholarships.