About Us
WHO WE ARE
We're the World Literacy Foundation
We envision a world in which every one of us can read and write, in which there is free access to education for all.
The World Literacy Foundation is a global a non-profit organization striving to ensure that every child regardless of geographic location has the opportunity to acquire literacy skills and books to reach their full potential – succeeding at school and beyond.
What We Do
We're Changing Children’s Lives Through Literacy

We provide children with books and educational resources, so they can discover the joy of reading.

We bring literacy support to disadvantaged children who are struggling to read and write.

We gather global literacy leaders and organizations to share ideas and collaborate within the sector.

We bring together innovative technology, e-books, and digital activities to advance the learning of children in remote communities in their mother tongue and English.

We are a global voice to spread and promote the importance of literacy, we empower people to advocate in their local community for this cause.

We involve parents in mentoring programs to help them instill the love of reading in their children and create a habit of reading at home.
Our Impact in 2022
20050
volunteer hours donated to our projects
116740
children or parents accessed our services
91037
books distributed
2900
Youth around the world participated in the World Literacy Foundation Ambassadors Program
9.5
million people reached through mainstream media, advocacy events and social media
Thanks to You,
We Did It!
Each year we work across 4,500 communities in 143 countries, reaching 115 million children and their families.
Download the printed version by Country
Where We Work
We bring free books and literacy support to children in Australia, South America, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Africa.
United States

Latin America

United Kingdom

Africa

Australia

Supporters







"Grateful for our partnerships who believe in the importance of literacy and for their financial support"
Salesforce - Tobias Harris -Charitable Foundation - Pitney Bowes - Pura Vita - Hello Computer.







Our Team

Andy Kay

Rebecca Aldred

Naomi Nwagboso

Maria Gregory

Lorena Canon

Daniel Moreno

Joseph Ghaly

Gregory Zaralides

Georgia Allan

Paula Londono

Silvia Gomez

Carlos Vallejo

Vannesa Portilla

Andres Vera

Rosario Aran

Charles Muwangala

Abiodun Okanlawon
SUN BOOKS NIGERIA

Lamek Odero
SUN BOOKS KENYA

Vannesa Portilla

Ali Hawkins

Rosario Aran

Charles Muwangala

Abiodun Okanlawon
SUN BOOKS NIGERIA

Lamek Odero
SUN BOOKS KENYA













Board of Directors

Dr Donald Green

Mr Darryn Keneally, OAM

Dr Anthony Cree, OAM

Ms Julia Paterson
GREAT WRAP

Mr Andrew
Kay

Ms Samantha
Sida

Ms Angelica Correa







Our history
Everything Started with a Book!
The World Literacy Foundation was established in Melbourne, Australia to bring books, tutoring, and literacy resources to children without any support.
The World Literacy Foundation sent the first 34,000 children’s storybooks to Ethiopia, Africa to increase the educational resources of children in remote communities.
We expanded our programs to the United States and the United Kingdom to reach children from low-income families with books and reading support.
We implemented the initiative Reading Out of Poverty in Victoria, Australia, with a sole focus on providing early literacy skills and school preparedness for children aged 0-5 years from a disadvantaged background.
The first World Literacy Summit was celebrated at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. This is the largest global event that brings together international literacy specialists to build greater collaboration and partnerships in the literacy and education sector.
We established Aprende Leyendo in Colombia, an early literacy intervention to benefit families with limited educational resources and support.
World Literacy Foundation was officially registered in the United States and the United Kingdom as a charitable organization to reach children from low-income families with books and reading support.
We started the initial development and testing of Sun Books in Uganda, Africa, the literacy app was pre-loaded in solar-powered tablets to reach students in off-the-grid classrooms.
We launched our WLF Ambassador Program to inspire young people to become literacy advocates and take action to help reduce illiteracy worldwide.
We created the Indigenous Learning App for children in 17 communities in Northern Territory, Australia. The app included e-books and games to help children learn English in conjunction with their mother tongue. Dingo App started to be implemented in Colombia as an EdTech solution to promote the learning of students in remote and rural areas.
Sun Books projects expanded to new schools in Zimbabwe. South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya.
Due to the Coronavirus, we transformed the World Literacy Summit 2020 into an online experience reaching 410 million people worldwide. UK Reads was launched as a response to the vital need for UK children to have access to books at home, supporting parents to become their child’s first teacher and literacy support.
CONTACT US
We’d Love to Hear From You!
Australia
15/20 Commercial Road
Melbourne VIC 3004
Australia +61 03 9995 0079
ABN: 33 940 354 008
I.A.N: A0055790R DGR
North America
712 H Street NE Suite 2013
Washington, D.C. 20002 +1 815-451-5561
501 (c) 3 EIN 46-1201100
South America
PO Box 10
Manizales – Colombia +57 3148217736
NIT: 00000901239830 – 2
Registration: 0090055212
United Kingdom
225 – 46 Eversholt Street
London NW1 1DA
United Kingdom +44 7 842930125
Charity No. 1154264
Company No. 08475669
Canada


Africa
PO Box 21427
Kampala – Uganda + 256 785 235776
Charity No. FORR139122056NB
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WLF has grown to align with the needs of an evolving education sector. The World Literacy Foundation has worked towards forging partnerships with other leading educational and related not-for-profit organisations, and has built long-lasting relationships within communities around the world. Donate – United Kingdom World Literacy Foundation significantly dedicates its time and resources to conducting research, and uses resulting information to help advocate in local communities as well as on a global scale.
About Us
About Us
About Us
About Us
The World Literacy Foundation volunteers and partner communities have worked in Azerbaijan, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Colombia, Mozambique, Uganda, and other developing countries to provide access to quality education and learning resources to disadvantaged communities. With bases on five of the seven continents, the tailors each operation to the country’s specific literacy needs.
In the African sect based in Uganda, where many people live in poverty and have no electricity the World Literacy Foundation has donated solar powered tablets. Paired with the Sun Books initiative the World Literacy Foundation is not just donating recourses but also training to teachers at the primary school level.
Where the foundation was started in Australia, the goal is geared towards closing the gap of literacy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. For indigenous people illiteracy rates are a more prominent problem. To improve skills such as reading and number skills, the World Literacy Foundation has developed a program called the Indigenous Learning App. This app contains multilingual e-books and multiple literacy games in not just English but also the local dialect in Australia.[6]
In the African sect with headquarters in Uganda, where many people live in poverty and have no electricity the World Literacy Foundation has donated solar powered tablets. Paired with the Sun Books initiative the World Literacy Foundation is not just donating recourses but also training to teachers at the primary school level on how to use these resources effectively. The solar powered tablets come preloaded with digital learning content and multilingual e-books. In Uganda only roughly 27% of people have access to electricity and the cost of one book can be a whole month’s salary.
These sunbooks.org are useful in the sense that they do not need to be electrically charged and are universal tools, coming loaded with multiple uses.[7] Several years ago, the World Literacy Foundation founded their South America sect in Manizales, Colombia. Latin America is in dire need of educational reform, over 35 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate.
Here it is only expected that children attend school for 6 years compared to the traditional 12 most other countries require. To help improve these statistics the World Literacy Foundation runs two classes a week for over 60 children and other community members. During beneficial classes the World Literacy Foundation supports learners of all ages with tutoring and reading services.[7] In the United Kingdom illiteracy costs the UK’s economy roughly $50 billion USD a year.
It is here the World Literacy Foundation has run 26 fundraising projects, book distribution drives and provides numerous services. To help combat illiteracy the World literacy Foundation provides services such as parent mentoring, tutoring services, delivering literacy recourses, and distributes multilingual children/baby books. In the UK the World Literacy Foundation also has made a pack to new mothers to whom English would not be their first language to improve literacy and help them improve their standard of life.[7] Even in the United States of America there is a literacy crisis.
This gap can be measured by 30 million words, and this stretches from learners who live in poverty to those who are afforded the best education money can buy. Although it is not just the socioeconomics that divide America’s literate, literacy rates also greatly range between racial groups. To support American learners the World Literacy Foundation has encouraged 150 schools to participate in International literacy Day.
In February 2019 a project called Michigan Reads debuted; this is an initiative to provide tutoring and literacy resources to children from all backgrounds in Michigan. In America there are also over 60 Youth Ambassadors who promote literacy in their schools and communities.[7] Global projects The World Literacy Foundation hosts several global projects a year. The most popular being the International Day of Literacy.