Portland Literacy Council (PLC) is a nonprofit organization that supports adult literacy programs, tutors, and students in the Portland metropolitan area.
PLC activities include delivering online and in-person tutor training workshops, supporting Pacific Northwest literacy programs, providing GED test vouchers to low-income students, sponsoring an annual volunteer tutor conference, and publishing an online newsletter and announcements of interest to the adult literacy community.
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Every dollar brings an adult learner closer to independence —DONATE today to help us reach our $5,000 goal and build a thriving, equitable community. 

A Message from PLC’s Executive Director About Our Fundraising Campaign

Potential takes root when someone shows up, again and again, to help it grow.

That spirit is reflected throughout Portland Literacy Council’s 2026 Annual Report: 366 tutors trained through 32 courses, continued growth in our Foundational Literacy program, more GED graduates gaining confidence and opportunity, and an expanding network of community partners across Oregon and beyond. More…

Resource Center

DON’T MISS OUT ON THESE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES!

Have you ever wanted to be a literacy tutor, or would you like to enhance your tutoring skills? PLC has some great classes coming up this summer and fall – take a look. Scholarships are available – please reach out! See our training offerings and schedule here: https://www.portlandliteracy.org/upcoming-workshops/.

We also welcome you to download this flyer and share it with your friends and community. We are always looking for new tutors to help support adult literacy to foster a thriving and equitable community. Thank you and happy tutoring!

Tutor Connections: ESL/ESOL Games Zoom Replay

Heidi Dryden hosts this great Tutor Connection, where she shares games she uses in tutoring students for whom English is not their native language. Other tutor participants then share games of their own. You can also download Heidi’s materials here. 

LITERACY: WHERE POTENTIAL TAKES ROOT

PLC’s 2026 Annual Impact Report is now available.  This report describes the inspiring work of PLC and the many volunteers supporting adult learners over the last year. 

LITERACY FACTS
  • The literacy levels of parents are crucial in predicting their children’s literacy levels and educational attainment. (National Institute for Literacy)
  • More than 20% of adults read at or below a fifth-grade level, which prevents them from working at jobs with a living wage, hinders their ability to vote, and impedes their ability to read a newspaper. (National Institute for Literacy)
  • Adults who have not received high school diplomas are unemployed at nearly three times the rate of their peers with high school diplomas. (State of Oregon Employment Dept.)
  • The single greatest indicator of children’s success is the literacy level of their parents.
    • 43% of adults with low literacy skills live in poverty
    • 36 million adults in the U.S. have low literacy skills.

    Break the cycle of poverty:
    Reach a child in need — Teach an adult to read.

New and Noteworthy

CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES! 

PLC is honored to have attended the inaugural graduation ceremony for The Rebel Academy recently. We are so inspired by these graduates, many of whom were formerly incarcerated and took their GED exams to receive their high school diplomas. Also, a huge shout-out to Dr. Lauren Zavrel for starting this organization and all of the hard work and milestones achieved by Lauren and her team. PLC is so happy we could help support graduates by covering GED fees for many of them to take their GED exams. 

Attention, tutors and students alike! Are you looking for an opportunity to teach or learn English? Portland ESL Network offers amazing resources, including a blog, a list of virtual classes, and an updated map of in-person classes across the Portland Metro Area. 

Welcome New Executive Director, Courtenay Carr Heuer

We are very pleased to welcome Courtenay Carr Heuer as Portland Literacy Council’s new Executive Director. 

Courtenay officially began her transition into the role on May 27. Lorie Wigle, our current Executive Director, will support the transition over the coming weeks. We are thankful to have had Lorie’s extraordinary leadership over the past three years, and we are so pleased that she will remain actively involved with the organization moving forward. 

Courtenay cares deeply about adult literacy and brings energy and experience from within the nonprofit world. As a mother committed to her children’s education, she previously co-founded and served as Executive Director for Scientific Adventures for Girls (SAfG), an organization focused on inspiring and empowering girls from an early age to explore STEM and pursue related opportunities with confidence. 

As part of her work with SAfG she also served as Lead for the California Girls STEM Collaborative, where she helped “Connect, Create, and Collaborate to Transform STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) for all Youth.” In addition to her nonprofit leadership experience, Courtenay worked early in her career with the Intercultural Institute of California, supporting English and job-training programs for immigrants in the United States. She is currently a volunteer ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) tutor at PCC Southeast, and she will also begin as a Citizenship teacher with SOAR in their summer program. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.A. in Commercial Diplomacy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

STAY CONNECTED!

Subscribe to the LiteracyLinks Newsletter

Subscribe to Tutor Announcements and Workshops

On our For Tutors page, check out the Resources for Tutoring Online drop-down for a wealth of tools and ideas for Online Tutoring.  Here’s a sampling: