On International Literacy Day (ILD), we celebrate the strides we have made, while reflecting on the challenges that remain, in our goal of literacy for everyone, everywhere.
The good news is that global literacy is higher than ever before—91% of people ages 15–24 are literate. Literacy rates are 13% higher among youth than adults, a sign of progress.
The bad news is that these numbers hide major age, gender, and regional disparities; a whopping 750 million adults—two-thirds of them women—still lack basic reading and writing skills.
In recognition of ILD, we invite you to nominate a literacy champion for ILA’s next 30 Under 30 list. Founded in 2015, the program shines a spotlight on young innovators, disruptors, and visionaries who are leading efforts to overcome the challenges of today’s education field and to advance our vision of a literate world for all.
Previous honorees span multiple sectors—from educators to advocates, from app developers to social entrepreneurs, and more—including John Maldonado, an English and special education teacher from Queens, NY, who embraces technology to help students with autism communicate and develop literacy skills; Shiza Shahid, cofounder of the Malala Fund, a nonprofit that works to secure girls' rights to a quality education; and Andrew Sutherland, founder of the free vocabulary study app Quizlet.
“Though their passions, initiatives, and backgrounds span wide, every single one of our 30 Under 30 honorees has, in some way, helped deliver high-quality literacy instruction to classrooms, communities, and the world,” says ILA Executive Director Marcie Craig Post. “We look forward to meeting the next generation of literacy champions and to sharing their stories with our global community.”
The next 30 Under 30 class will be featured in the January/February 2019 issue of Literacy Today and across ILA’s platforms (in blog posts, Twitter chats, and more). Each honoree will receive a complimentary ILA membership, be recognized at an upcoming ILA conference, and join a dynamic network of champions.
Nominations are open to all literacy educators and advocates who are under 30 years old (as of March 1, 2019) and are making outstanding contributions to the field. Click here for the official nomination form, which must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on June 1, 2018.
Find the complete lists of previous honorees here, and catch up with last year’s class to see what they’ve been up in our follow-up feature in the September/October 2017 issue of Literacy Today, out now.
Alina O’Donnell is the editor of Literacy Daily.