New Mexico Coalition for Literacy
                       25th
   Annual Meeting & Conference
         "The Power of Change" 

Join us for a day of exciting speakers and workshops designed to inspire, motivate, and educate!

Meet our distinguished award winners (to be announced the day of our event)! You don't want to miss this silver anniversary celebration!

Experience "The Power of Change" for yourself!

Register Now! 

More Information

Keynote Speaker

Tsiporah Nephesh
Program Coordinator
Center for Nonprofit Excellence
United Way of Central NM

The Power of Change and the Power to Change

Are you in the driver's seat or a passenger in the journey of change? Passengers are taken along for the ride, drivers choose the direction. Throughout history, there have been key moments when change and literacy intersect. In our own time, we have seen the rise of computers, cell phones, and social media. We have witnessed the widening of the gap between a privileged class with resources and an increasingly impoverished class with few resources, education, or opportunities. The piecemeal approach of the nonprofit sector has been unable to address the disparity in our society. However, collective impact, with a cross-sector approach and engagement at all levels of a community holds promise for creating meaningful change. In this time of uber-technology, the key components of collective impact are very human: dialogue and relationships.

Luncheon Speaker
 
Kathy Barco
Literacy Coordinator
Albuquerque/Bernalillo County
Library System

Balloons & Literacy: Blow, Show, Know, Grow!

As Literacy Coordinator for the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System (ABC Library for short), Kathy Barco gives workshops that showcase the library’s Every Child Ready to Read® (ECRR) early literacy program. Designed for parents, grandparents, and caregivers, the workshops highlight the five components of ECRR: Reading, Writing, Talking, Singing, and Playing. These components can impart early literacy skills in a fun and painless way, and many folks already use them without even realizing it. Kathy will demonstrate how the Every Child Ready to Read® model can be adapted for emerging readers of all ages. With some small but powerful changes to your literacy interactions, you may not only change someone's life, but empower them as well!

Workshops

Morning

Sherry Aragon
Interim Director
Espanola Public Library

Libraries and Literacy Programs Working Together
(Literacy Directors and Coordinators, Boards of Directors & Basic Literacy Tutors)

Libraries and Librarians are essential chaperones on the journey to adult literacy. Adult illiteracy is still a concern in the United States and a key focus of libraries' outreach efforts. Community libraries have a long tradition of providing resources and services to adults wanting to improve their reading and writing skills. Across the country, in large and small communities, libraries are providing effective and replicable services and programs for adult learners. The specifics of how these programs are developed, implemented, staffed, and administered depends a great deal on the library's mission, goals, capacity and the communities literacy resources. In this workshop, participants will learn of the many ways that libraries and adult literacy programs can partner to improve adult literacy rates in their local communities and increase library patronage.

Cate Cardwell
Consultant
Wonder Organizations

Collaboration 101
(Literacy Directors and Coordinators & Boards of Directors)

Can You Imagine Collaborative Relationships within Your Organization? Between Your Organization and Others? If you’ve wondered what all the hoopla surrounding collaboration is about, please explore with us: what it is; how it works - within and between real organizations; benefits and pitfalls; how to determine its possibilities for your organization; and where to begin. This workshop is for anyone affiliated with NMCL who has responsibility for planning, management, oversight, or program/board/performance evaluation.

Natalia Davis
NMCL ESL
Tutor Trainer & Volunteer Tutor 

Strengthening Programs with the English as a Second Language Oral Assessment
(Literacy Directors and Coordinators, Boards of Directors & ESL Tutors)

The ESLOA is an instrument published by Pro-Literacy that has been in use for many years. It is designed as a pre/post test for use by tutors and measures students' oral language proficiency. During this workshop, attendees will have a quick overview of the ESLOA and will have the opportunity to practice administering it. It is a useful tool for both program administrators and tutors alike to improve instruction and assess progress.

Porfie Maldonado
NMCL Board of Directors,
Adult Literacy Student &
Owner
Reflective Auto Collision

w/Benson Ndolo
Executive Director
New Life Learning Center

The Power of Change and YOU
(Adult Basic Literacy Students & Basic Literacy Tutors)

Together we will explore these three questions: How has education changed your life? What or who motivated you to make changes in your life? What does change look like? The first two questions will have a writing and sharing activity. For the third question, you will draw your interpretation of change. Finally, you will explore how to put these same concepts toward other goals in your life.

Afternoon

 

Bruce Donisthorpe
NMCL Advisory Council &
Senior Vice President
Manzano Strategies

Open Forum on the NMCL Operating Assistance Grant Request for Proposals
(Literacy Directors and Coordinators & Boards of Directors)

Do you need more money to operate your adult literacy program? In this economic climate, funding sources like ours are highly valued. Join us for a review of the NMCL's State of New Mexico-funded grant to local providers of adult literacy services. The NMCL's grant supports costs that most grantors and funders do not - general operating costs for salaries, benefits, purchased services, overhead, supplies, and travel expenses that are program service related. By paying for these costs, your program is better able to leverage its funding for other private and public project monies. In this workshop, you will be given guidance for completing the NMCL's Operating Assistance Grant application to ensure that your program submits a qualified application that fits within the NMCL's mission and your own program's mission, funded at the highest level possible.

Janice Lujan
NMCL ESL Tutor Trainer & Volunteer Tutor

Have Fun!  Run a Conversation Group!
(Literacy Directors and Coordinators, Boards of Directors & ESL Tutors)

Running a Conversation Group sounds like fun! We can just sit around and talk! I like to talk! I can do that! But wait! How do I decide what to talk about? How do I help the students improve their English if we are just talking?? This workshop will answer these questions and will address any others that attendees bring. Come join us -- we're just going to talk! This session is for forming small ESL conversation groups for ESL students who are at an intermediate level who need practice with the language.

Porfie Maldonado & Benson Ndolo
The Power of Change and YOU
(Adult Basic Literacy Students & Basic Literacy Tutors)

Part II.