Dianne Kangisser opened the New York City chapter of Literacy Volunteers of America (LVA), a nonprofit that provides free literacy services to adults, in 1973, using $500 in federal grant money. Kangisser’s chapter was the first LVA affiliate in a major American city, operating out of a space on West 66th Street and Amsterdam donated to the organization by the Red Cross. The same year, the chapter was incorporated as Literacy Volunteers of New York City, with Kangisser as the executive director and sole employee.
“It was a total shoestring operation,” said Anthony Tassi, current executive director of Literacy Partners (the organization changed its name in 1995). “After a couple of years a second staff member was added, and the organization grew organically like that for a number of years.” The group relied on volunteers, who subscribed to a motto of “each one teach one,” tutoring in spaces at local libraries.
According to Tassi, a defining moment for Literacy Partners, now celebrating the 40th anniversary of its first year of operation, came in the mid-1980s. Reporter Carol Jenkins produced a documentary on adult illiteracy, featuring Literacy Partners, which she shared with gossip columnist Liz Smith. “Liz was shocked,” said Tassi. “She said, ‘How can I help?’ Slowly but surely she took this on and started throwing the benefit each year.” The annual Literacy Partners Gala typically includes members of the publishing industry and some of New York’s most well-known philanthropists. To date, the galas have raised over $30 million for the organization, which has, Tassi said, given Literacy Partners “a certain financial stability.” The most recent event—the 28th gala—was held June 17, and honored Markus Dohle, the CEO of Penguin Random House, and Peter Brown, chairman and CEO of BLJ Worldwide.
Tassi leads a team of 19 employees—12 of whom are teachers—and 30 volunteers, with an enrollment of 150 students at locations in Midtown, Harlem, and the South Bronx. Historically, the goal of the program was basic literacy, or a fifth-grade reading level. But in 2005, Literacy Partners added higher-level instruction. “We realized that moving someone from a second-grade to fifth-grade reading level is meaningful and important in their lives, but doesn’t have economic payoff,” said Tassi. Three years ago, Literacy Partners prepared 16 students for the New York State High School Equivalency Degree; last year, Literacy Partners trained 50 students in the program.
The organization recently created defined semesters, and moved from six hours of schooling per week to a mandatory 12. “Our attendance rates have soared,” said Tassi. “It’s not rocket science—it’s time on task.”
The group is also in the beginning stages of creating an educational video series, one that Tassi hopes would do for adults “what Sesame Street did for children’s literacy.” They’re aiming for something that’s “entertaining and light and catchy, and communicates information that parents need.”
As Literacy Partners approached its 40th year, the directors began to fine-tune its core mission of eliminating illiteracy, shifting to specifically “strengthening families through literacy” and “breaking the cycle of poverty by empowering parents,” said Tassi. “Our mission has always been to eliminate illiteracy. To keep true to this historical mission, we need to take a two-generation approach. Parents transfer those skills to their children. We’re solving today’s problem today, and preventing tomorrow’s problem from ever occurring.”
