Literacy, Inc. (LINC) has been named one of ten semi-finalists in the 2008 New York Times Company Nonprofit Excellence Awards. The Awards are presented by the New York Times Community Affairs Department, the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York (NPCC), and the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers (NYRAG). Four winning organizations will be announced in June from among the semi-finalists.

Seven key factors were considered by the Awards Selection Committee in selecting the semifinalists:

• Overall management focus on results
• Governance structure that moves the organization forward
• Strong, transparent and accountable financial management
• Inclusive and diverse organizational practices
• Enlightened use of human and other resources
• Regular and effective communications
• Effective, ethical fundraising and resource development

LINC activates more than 600 partners in 21 Community Literacy Networks (CLNs) to create and sustain their own literacy efforts on behalf of their children. Through these efforts, over thousands of children gained 70,000 additional reading hours last year in New York City’s five boroughs and in Hudson and Mt. Vernon, New York. LINC helps communities create reading programs wherever children are found—in restaurants and coffee shops, parks, laundromats, hair and nail salons, clinics and health centers, supermarkets, apartment building lobbies, homeless shelters, banks, stoops, senior citizens centers, libraries, faith-based institutions, stores, and more than 100 partner schools.

Last year alone, LINC and its 21 Community Literacy Networks facilitated 178 reading partner programs and 118 literacy events that reached thousands of children and their families, working with over 200 different sites.