President's Message

ADVOCATE, because systems don’t change on their own. Someone has to stand up, speak up, write the letters, show up, and demand more for our students and families.
EMPOWER, because this work is not about fixing kids—it’s about removing barriers. It’s about seeing every student as fully capable and worthy of a future they choose for themselves. It’s our job to prepare them to make their own informed decisions.

Right now, we are watching legislation restrict access to books and national leaders restrict school funding allocated by the United States Congress. We are watching efforts to narrow what’s taught, what’s said, and what’s seen. In real time, we are watching as reading, writing, speaking and being made political. 

So no matter our individual beliefs or political positions here’s what I want us to claim together today:

Literacy work is freedom work. Literacy work is human work. It is not neutral. It never has been.

When we teach someone to read with power, to write with purpose, to speak with clarity—we don’t just change their test score.
We expand their agency.
We equip them to participate.
We invite them to lead.

So let this be our charge as LITERACY leaders across the state:

When we plan, when we speak, when we advocate—we do so not only for our classrooms, but for our communities. We are here to say: Every North Carolinian has a right to literacy that opens doors—not just to college or career—but to citizenship, dignity, and voice.

We do this together. We do this with joy. We do this with fire. 

Because to educate is to plant seeds. To advocate is to raise your voice.
And to empower is to ensure no one is left out of the story.

Let’s go build the literacy justice movement our students and families need.
Let’s lead it with joy and justice for our future and for our children’s future.