>The following announcement is from Diane Gardner, with the EFF Center:

>

>"We are pleased to announce that the EFF Center received an award from the 

>UPS Foundation's Leadership for Community Literacy Initiative.  The goal 

>of this grant-making initiative is to ' help organizations meet demands 

>for literacy services through enhancements in leadership capacity and 

>organizational strength.'

>

>This work is to be guided by the EFF Program Quality Model.  During a 

>parallel, four-phase intensive course of study, planning and 

>implementation, the EFF Center and five local literacy agencies will be 

>engaged in program improvement processes for leadership enhancement and 

>capacity building to accomplish specific goals.  The EFF Handbook for 

>Program Improvement  will be the model used by the local partners, which 

>are the Urban Leagues of Hudson County (NJ) and Columbus, Ohio; READ 

>Chattanooga in Tennessee; Union City Adult Learning Center (NJ); and the 

>Bradley County Adult Education Program in Cleveland, Tennessee.  Each 

>program will form a Program Improvement Team comprised of individuals from 

>their respective volunteer boards or advisory groups, program 

>administrators, teachers, other staff members, and adult learners.

>

>The EFF Center, while refining and testing the EFF model for program 

>improvement and leadership development at the local level, will engage in 

>its own program improvement process during this time with the purpose of 

>strengthening its role as a national literacy leaders.  The goals include 

>establishing a volunteer advisory board, reviewing and revising the 

>business plan, and developing a multi-phased marketing strategy."