The Literacy & Justice Leadership Institute is a learning opportunity for experienced and emerging adult education leaders who are committed to advocating for and developing the field of adult literacy education from the standpoint of human rights, civil rights, and social justice.

The ten-month program consists of five monthly seminars and five months of project-based work, where participants develop and practice their vision of what it means to lead an adult literacy program explicitly focused on “literacy for justice."

Adult education has a long history, both in the U.S. and globally, of explicitly linking its work to movements for racial, social, and economic justice. This history includes the Popular Education movement which emerged in Latin America in the mid 20th century, the Citizenship and Freedom Schools during the Civil Rights Movement, and the work our field has done in recent decades to support the education and lives of new immigrants coming to the United States. This historical legacy captures the transformative power of education to challenge barriers, empower individuals and communities, and create possibilities for collective liberation. 

The moment we find ourselves in now, both as a country and as a field, calls on us to draw on this history of “literacy for justice” and continue fighting for, sustaining, and growing the field of adult education.