The English Empowerment Center is incredibly honored and proud to have been selected as one of the MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving Open Call awardees, through which we have received a one-time grant of one million dollars. Our program was selected from among 6,353 applications from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico after a process of multiple levels of review, feedback, and diligence involving peer applicants and an external Evaluation Panel recruited for experience relevant to this cause. This award recognizes our outstanding adult English literacy programs and reflects the incredible work our staff and volunteers do to teach adults the basic skills of reading, writing, speaking, and understanding English.
Through our work, we are reminded every day of the increasingly unmet needs of our neighbors seeking improved English skills so they can access employment and educational opportunities to participate in our community more fully and equitably. With this award, we will be able to increase our capacity to expand our reach and deepen our impact. We will use these funds to invest in the strength of our organization, so we can have a sustained effect on English language learners, now and in the future.
We are excited about the opportunities this funding provides us to better address the needs of adults who want to invest in their futures and empower themselves by learning English.
The entire English Empowerment Center team, including our Board of Directors, staff, volunteers, and students, are enormously grateful to MacKenzie Scott for this generous and reaffirming recognition of our work. We would also like to thank each of you, our donors and supporters, without whom we would not be able to do this work. It is because of your enduring commitment we have been able to help the more than 2,000 adults we serve today as they work towards a better life for themselves and their families.
We are looking forward to commemorating the work we do at our 6th annual A Taste of Literacy event, on Friday April 12th from 12:00 – 2:00pm in Arlington, VA. We hope to see all of you there! For more information about the English Empowerment Center, visit EnglishEmpowermentCenter.org.