Thank you to all who attended and supported our 25th Anniversary celebration. We are still basking in the glow of support and warm messages from LINC’s extended community of incredible friends and supporters. Our community showed up in significant ways to support generations of readers who become leaders! Perla Montas, LINC alumna and Brown University graduate, captured the impact you continually help us attain: “LINC established roots of reading at home in my neighborhood and helped me think bigger and outside my comfort zone.” Thanks to your generosity, we will continue to expand horizons through early literacy for the next…

Do you know the difference between a fixed and growth mindset? Whether or not we realize it, most of us adopt a mindset early in our development that affects the entire trajectory of our lives. A fixed mindset sees the world as unchangeable, while a growth mindset sees our potential and increases our capacity for life-long learning and brain development. At LINC, we know that a baby’s brain develops over 90% during the first five years of their life, making early literacy critical. Imagine fostering a growth mindset during that time. We unlock unlimited potential and opportunity. On Wednesday, April…

On April 22, 2021, LINC’s Professional Advisory Council (PAC) hosted their second Virtual Trivia Night fundraiser. The PAC came together with their friends and family to spread awareness about LINC, and to recognize World Book Day. Guests were invited to tap into a curated playlist through Spotify and were also provided with a recipe for a literary-based cocktail, the Tequila Mockingbird. PAC Member Adam Brutocao’s family team, the Brutocao Bunch, came ready to play for a chance to win a gift card to Bookshop.org, a site that supports local bookstores like the Word Up Bookstore in Washington Heights – one…

Thanks to LINC’s continued partnership with the Saint Barnabas Hospital WIC program, the Fordham community held another successful virtual reading event on Tuesday, April 27. This time, Julia Danced the Bomba and so did we as guest author and storyteller Dr. Raquel Ortiz brought an Afro-Latino musical tradition to life. Engaging community stakeholders is at the heart of LINC’s mission and we were proud to have NYC Councilmember Fernando Cabrera open this program with a few words about the importance of early literacy and the work we are doing in the community. “I will continue to support your work because…

LINC is proud to announce that we have two new members on our young professionals board, the Professional Advisory Council (PAC). We are pleased to introduce Hedy Gutfreund and Richard Offutt! Welcome to LINC, Hedy and Richard! It’s your energy and enthusiasm that helps fuel our movement to increase visibility of the literacy crisis in New York City. PAC’s past creative fundraising events include Sunday morning yoga, reading books at a local brewery, waterfront family fun runs, and virtual trivia nights. We can’t wait to see what you do next! For more information about LINC’s current online literacy programs, please…

LINC’s collective impact work continues to evolve and embrace the digital space. In April, the Reads Initiative unveiled a new website and launched a social media campaign to connect more families to our network. The campaign resulted in thousands of digital engagements and 100 commitments to our new community movement, the Reads Initiative Pledge. Families who took the Reads Initiative Pledge committed their active participation to ensure children in South Jamaica and East New York have strong literacy support. Upon pledging, all families received a book kit including a Reads community resource guide and fun family friendly stickers to get…

Dear Councilmember: The New York City Council’s response to the Preliminary Budget paid attention to the complex needs we face together. Thank you for meeting the immediate demands of the pandemic’s impact on our communities. Because New York City is in the midst of a literacy crisis and the impact of early childhood programming is so profound, we urge you to consider the value of supporting early literacy and early childhood efforts as you begin negotiations around the Executive Budget. Birth to five quality early education offers a 13% Return on Investment for its long term value in improving health,…

“Daddy Changed the World” — Gianna Floyd Those words, coming from a six year old child whose father was brutally murdered by one of the very people charged with protecting her family, can give all of America hope that we will and we must work together to achieve a better society. At Literacy, Inc. (LINC), we join the collective sigh of relief that a just verdict was issued by the jury in the Chauvin/Floyd trial. Truth matters. Words matter. Accountability matters. We join the collective sigh of mourning for those lives lost and not served by justice. We share the…

This past Monday, March 23, we celebrated our fearless founder’s 93rd birthday! Mimi Levin Lieber continues to show all of us at LINC how to pursue justice through literacy with joy! We asked our staff and board members to share their thoughts on why they appreciate Mimi. The result was a list of 93 Reasons Why We Love Mimi (and a few more to grow on). If you are needing a mood booster this week, we encourage you to read the full list here. Be prepared to smile, laugh, and be inspired! For now, here are some of our favorites:…

LINC warmly welcomes Clare Premo Perez to our Board of Directors! Clare is a global brand manager at Unilever, where she focuses on brand strategy, new product innovation and development, and marketing communications. She previously worked as a strategy consultant at Winterberry Group. Clare received her B.A. from Princeton University and M.B.A. from Columbia University. We’re delighted to have her join the LINC team. Welcome to the LINC Board of Directors, Clare!Read more about Clare’s favorite children’s books, current reads, and passion for our mission below: What attracted you to Literacy Inc. and what is most exciting about joining the…

“A lot of our work is about…making sure that families, as entire family units, fall in love with books and find books irresistible.” Eliana Godoy LINC is on the news! We are hard at work building a literacy movement in the midst of an expanding crisis. Check out our very own Director of Advancement Eliana Godoy discussing LINC’s work with families who are creating joyful, literacy rich environments for their children despite systemic inequities. Want to get in on all the reading and joy? It’s not too late to sign up for our “Wear Your Crown” Family Academy! Join us…

LINC is proud to announce that our award winning Development Team is growing! As we prepare ourselves to support even more families, we are thankful to have four new staff members join us in our efforts. Meet Kate Dorman, Calin Mason, Jessica Tenenbaum, and Matt Zebrowski. They are excited to get to know the LINC community and for you to know them. Kathleen (Kate) Dorman recently joined the LINC team as our Donor Relations Manager. As a seasoned professional in the fields of arts and education, Kate brings experience as an administrator, fundraiser, and facilitator to her position at LINC.…

Literacy, Inc. is heartbroken and deeply troubled by last night’s shootings in Georgia. These shootings left eight people dead, six of them Asian-Americans. As we write, law enforcement has yet to rule out racial bias as a motivation for the violence, despite the gunman’s claims. And yet, regardless of what rationale he provides for his inexplicable and unjustifiable actions, this horrible incident took place against a backdrop of increasing violence against our Asian-American and Pacific Islander community. Nationwide, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, hate crimes and violence against people of Asian descent have risen dramatically. There…

LINC’s Very Involved Parent Academy educates and supports our parents who wish to take a greater role in shaping the future of their communities. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic one year ago, we were hard at work adjusting to the challenges of virtual learning and supporting our families remotely. Our VIPs immediately stepped in and offered an incredible amount of support in helping our community teams stay connected with families, and ensured our efforts to combat the literacy crisis could meet the daunting realities of a city grappling with COVID. In the past year, our VIPs began leading…

LINC is proud to announce that we have five new members on our young professionals board, the Professional Advisory Council (PAC). We are pleased to introduce Adam Brutocao, Alexandra Fen, Jessica Reich, Arjun Saraswat and Meredith Wallner! Welcome to LINC, Adam, Alexandra, Jessica, Arjun and Meredith. We are delighted to have your energy and enthusiasm and are excited for the growth of LINC’s Professional Advisory Council! Whether it is virtual trivia night, Sunday morning yoga, waterfront family fun runs, or reading books at the local brewery, you continue to inspire our staff and cultivate new advocates with your creative fundraising…

LINC and corporate partner Timberland are celebrating Black History Month with service. In response to the racial equality movement that took place last summer, Timberland made a commitment to support the Black and BIPOC communities in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, DC, and NYC- all cities that helped put the brand on the map! During the month of February, Timberland virtual employee volunteers worked with nonprofit organizations like LINC that are fighting for racial justice and education equity. Timberland is a global outdoor lifestyle brand, which for over 28 years, has offered employees paid time for community service. Timberland employees are supporting…

Nahid Lakhani brings multiple perspectives to her new role as a member of LINC’s Board of Directors. Her professional qualifications and expertise as an occupational therapist working with young children and focusing on early childhood development supports LINC’s transition to serving families with younger children. Nahid is also the mother of two children; she lives the experiences LINC inculcates through our programs. Understanding that books open a door to adventure and can help children absorb ideas, Nahid draws on her own childhood love of reading and shares books with her boys, noting that Frances Burnett Hobson’s classic “The Secret Garden”…

On February 19, LINC facilitated the fourth session of our bilingual literacy-building Virtual Bee program. This program is designed to support caregivers with babies and toddlers (under five) and help them develop close bonds with their little bees as they enhance their early learning skills. Throughout this six-part series, five of the sessions focus exclusively on the foundations of early literacy: Sing, Play, Talk, Draw and Read. Last Friday, our team had the pleasure of focusing on Play and discussed ways to build a child’s confidence and resilience through play, which of course includes our favorite pastime, reading! Play helps…