Beyond Books 2024
On Thursday, March 21st, 2024, scaleLIT hosted our seventh annual fundraiser and awards ceremony, Beyond Books. With over 120 amazing guests and three truly inspiring award winners, The Library was buzzing with excitement and energy. Laughter, chatter, and new connections filled the air as everyone came together for an unforgettable evening.
scaleLIT Job Board
If you are a member or partner organization and would like to submit a listing to be featured on our job board, please contact Renuka.
2024 Digital Learning Lab Launch
This year’s Digital Learning Lab (DLL) has officially kicked off with 19 participants across three cohorts! Please join us in congratulating the participants of the 2024 Digital Learning Lab.
scaleLIT on The Partnership Podcast with George Wright
Our own External Affairs Director, Robert Guzman, recently joined George Wright on the WVON Radio podcast “The Partnership” to discuss our work as One-Stop Operators.
Night of 1,000 Stars 2023
Night of 1,000 Stars 2023 celebrated the incredible journeys of adult learners who've shown unwavering determination and perseverance in their pursuit of education
AEFL Week 2023
Year after year, AEFL Week serves as a reminder of the many ways that adult education changes lives every day! We're grateful to everyone who worked with us to make AEFL Week 2023 a success. Uplifting adult education is essential in strengthening our communities, creating equitable opportunities, and building a future that works for everyone.
scaleLIT’s Disability Navigators Program with Chicago Cook County Workforce Partnership
scaleLIT’s Career Pathways Navigators assist community residents in accessing job training, educational opportunities, and employment through outreach events, orientations, and a regular presence in American Job Centers (AJCs). The program is ramping up with four new Navigator hires working to maximize access to resources across community partnerships.
scaleLIT’s Robert Guzman on Hire Frequency Podcast
To kick off July’s Disability Pride Month, our own Robert Guzman joined Hire Frequency to discuss the Career Pathways Navigator program. Hire Frequency is the official podcast of The Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership. The Partnership operates the largest publicly funded workforce system in the country, serving the great City of Chicago and the nation’s 3rd largest county–Cook County.
Careers de Mayo 2023
The National Able Network and Illinois Department of Employment Security recently hosted the fifth annual Careers de Mayo event at the Near West American Job Center in Pilsen! Featuring a career fair with support and referral opportunities for attendees, Careers de Mayo helps connect job seekers with relevant community resources and employers in a collaborative and celebratory space.
Beyond Books 2023
On April 13, 2023, scaleLIT hosted our sixth annual fundraiser and awards ceremony, Beyond Books. With over 130 guests and 3 inspiring award winners, good conversations and connections were abundant. Guests, sponsors, and all involved helped make the event successful; this support ensures scaleLIT can continue serving the community through advocacy, direct service, and access to equitable resources in literacy education and workforce development.
Digital Learning Lab 2022-23 Midpoint Event
On February 24th, over 40 adult educators from across Illinois gathered for the Digital Learning Lab midpoint event hosted by Google. During the event, scaleLIT’s EdTech Director Michael Matos led cohort members and SMEs in reporting on their collaboration and findings through the first half of this year’s sprints.
scaleLIT’s Work in the COABE Journal
COABE Journal: Lessons From the Pandemic | Volume 11, Issue No. 2, Fall 2022| Published by the Coalition On Adult Basic Education | Article No. 20– “Instructional Practices and Learner Engagement and Program Development and Innovations: Lessons in Equity and Inclusion.” By Kelly Caldwell, Keay Crandall, Michael Matos, Becky Raymond, Renuka Sharma, and April Harrington.
Meet Our Navigators!
Our Career Pathways Navigators assist community residents in accessing job training and education, and employment through outreach events, orientations, and a regular presence in American Job Center high traffic areas. Check out our recent interviews to learn more about the Navigators and what they love about their jobs.
Building Community
There are a multitude of adult literacy organizations serving populations with many overlapping and diverse needs. While these programs may serve in different places among unique populations, we believe programs are strongest when working together. Building community among programs creates opportunities for sharing assets, creating networks of support, and collaborating toward a shared mission.
Assessing Gaps
Literacy gaps can show up in many areas of life, from digital literacy to healthcare to career navigation and beyond. Assessing gaps is crucial for organizations to effectively address the needs of individuals at any literacy level. To give individuals the best support possible, organizations need to know where that support is specifically needed.
AEFL Week 2022
We are grateful to everyone who worked with us to make AEFL Week 2022 a success. Uplifting adult education in each of these ways has been not only a testimony to the work we’ve achieved together, but also powerful motivation to continue advocating for the adult and family literacy initiatives that advance education, access, and equity in so many communities.
How To Scale Your Mission Through Literacy
Organizations, today more than ever, are seeing that the adult populations they serve have literacy gaps that can become major barriers to their mission. These barriers present themselves in a multitude of areas and can oftentimes prevent organizations from reaching their full potential.
Welcome to scaleLIT!
Most of you know that the Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition changed its name to scaleLIT in April. As our new name suggests, we are all in on helping organizations use adult literacy best practices to serve the community.