General Session Keynote Speaker
May 29th 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Dr. Jennifer James is a renowned urban cultural anthropologist, lecturer, writer, columnist, commentator, and community activist; she is well known for her innovative ideas. She works at an international level, helping people meet the challenges of today�s transitions. Dr. James was a full-time faculty member of the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department at the University of Washington for 12 years. She left the University in 1982 to follow her interest in international business and community service. Dr. James is the director of the Community Service Committee, which helps individuals contribute to their community. She is also the founder of the Committee for Children, a group devoted to prevention of the physical and sexual abuse of children. Dr. James is a specialist in areas of cultural change, diversity, and marketing intelligence. She has filmed two PBS specials - �Thinking in the Future Tense� and �A Workout for the Mind.�

Featured Speaker
May 30th 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Victoria Purcell-Gates, Ph.D., is a professor of literacy at Michigan State University. She received her Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley and has held several positions at the University of Cincinnati and Harvard University. For over 30 years she taught and studied students with literacy learning difficulties from preschool to adult. Dr. Purcell-Gates has directed two university-based literacy clinics, at the University of Cincinnati and Harvard. Her research reflects her interest in intergenerational literacy development both inside and outside schools. She has published articles and book chapters in numerous academic journals and books, and she is the author of the award-winning Other People's Words: The Cycle of Low Literacy (1995, Harvard University Press) and Now We Read, We See, We Speak: Portrait of Literacy Development in an Adult Freirean-Based Class (co-author Robin Waterman, 2000, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates).

Featured Speakers
May 30th 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Public Policy Panel

This panel will address public policy issues from national and state perspectives. The panelists will discuss issues that are impacting volunteer and community-based programs and adult basic education at the national, state, and local levels. Topics will include public funding, accountability, advocacy strategies, and other related issues.
Don�t miss this opportunity to ask questions and to dialogue with key policy makers about your concerns and perspectives!

Moderator: Peter A. Waite, Executive Director, Laubach Literacy Action
Panelist will include: Forest Chisman, Past President of the Southport Institute for Policy Analysis and author of Jump Start (1989) and Leadership for Literacy (1990); Randy Whitfield, President of the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education; and others.

Student Breakfast - Playwrights Project
May 31st 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Playwrights Project is a nonprofit arts education organization founded in 1985 by Deborah Salzer to promote literacy, communication skills, and creativity through drama-based activities, with an emphasis on inspiring youth and seniors. Based in San Diego with a branch office in Los Angeles, it has served more than 18,000 young people and seniors, including students in 16 school districts. Playwrights Project wins praise for its work in the classroom and in the community from teachers, parents, arts professionals, and, most importantly, participants in the programs. The California Arts Council calls Playwrights Project �the most comprehensive, in-depth playwriting program for young people in the state, a model program that gets amazing results.�

Featured Speaker
May 31st 2:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
Alexander Weir is a native San Diegan who attended San Diego High School, but never graduated. After working eight years for the San Diego County Department of Social Services, his supervisor discovered that Mr. Weir possessed only minimal literacy skills. At that time, and up to the present, Mr. Weir�s title was health services case manager. For the past 12 years, Mr. Weir counseled pregnant and parenting teens who are students in the San Diego Unified School District, the same district overseeing the schools he attended as a young person. Because of his work supervisor's discovery and support, Mr. Weir contacted READ/San Diego, the adult literacy program of the San Diego Public Library. Since that day, four years ago, life has not been the same for Mr. Weir. While he has always had a gift for public speaking, something he has done for the past 15 years, Mr. Weir has found enormous inspiration and receptive audiences in those who hear the messages he has to share on literacy, life, and God. As a motivational speaker, Mr. Weir has presented for Head Start organizations, the San Diego Urban League, the Chicano Federation, and United Way/CHAD. And, while his literacy skills were strengthened, his accomplishments continued to accumulate. In 1999, California Governor Pete Wilson presented him with the �Man of the Year� award for his work in motivating teen dads to carry out their responsibilities as new fathers. When asked about being in the ministry, Mr. Weir responded, "I have never been in the ministry. But people address me as minister more often than you think." When asked about his philosophy in life, Mr. Weir said, "I would never judge a person by the color of their skin, but by the size of their heart...and that comes from them having God in their lives.� Mr. Weir has raised three sons and three daughters, and is still one of Southern California's best advocates for literacy. He is grateful to the literacy organization that changed his life, saying, �If it is for READ/San Diego, I will be there to speak. They have done so much for me there.�

Featured Speakers
May 31st 2:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
International Leaders
As Laubach and LVA merge into a worldwide organization, our first joint national conference is offering us a wonderful opportunity to engage in dialogue with our international colleagues. This year�s featured speakers will include several of our program partners whose dedication and expertise has attracted international attention and helped bring literacy education to the forefront of global matters. They will share their approaches to working with learners striving to overcome the extreme challenges of poverty and injustice in the developing world and offer new perspectives that will enhance literacy work in the U.S. Come get acquainted with the world of international literacy programming!

From Africa -
Mulegwa Zihindula, director of REDECO in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.), recently completed M.A. in conflict transformation.

Reseau pour le Developpement Communautaire (REDECO), Laubach�s partner organization in D.R.C., has initiated conflict transformation programs aimed at addressing sources of community and family contention. The programs combine literacy education with mediation and restorative justice activities. REDECO helps divided families to reconcile differences, reduce hostility, and curb violence. Through seminars, workshops, and counseling, learners in REDECO programs are working to establish peace in their nation, beginning in their homes. These learners� success has attracted the attention of other non-government organizations, and REDECO has become a resource for peace-building throughout the Congo.

From Asia -
Mrs. Indira Koithara has dedicated her life to women�s literacy and development programs in India. She is the managing trustee of Yuvaparivartan, a Laubach partner working in Delhi. Recently, the government of India appointed Mrs. Koithara to the National Literacy Mission and to the National Committee for Promotion of Social and Economic Welfare. This past June the central government awarded Mrs. Koithara the Best Social Worker Award for 2001 for Youth, Women, and Children Empowerment.

Yuvaparivartan supports women�s development groups in squatter slums in seven Indian states. Participants in these groups take part in literacy education, income generation projects, and healthcare improvement campaigns. As these women pool their efforts and resources, they generate solutions to difficult social problems. Yuvaparivartan supports their efforts by providing training to local teachers, seed money for income-generating projects, and advocacy resources. An estimated 10,350 men, women, and children benefited from Yuvaparivartan programs during the year 2000.

Nasrine Gross, an Afghan American, is the U.S. representative of NEGAR, a global non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris. Ms. Gross is the author of several books (in Farsi) on the history of Afghan women. Currently, Ms. Gross is working with women leaders in Afghanistan to establish the essential rights of women in the new Afghanistan.

From Latin America -
Magdalena Fisher is president of the education committee of Laubach�s partner, Soroptimist International of La Mesa, Mexico. The community is located on the outskirts of Tijuana, in an economically depressed, desert-like area. In 1993 the women of Soroptimist of La Mesa began working with barrio leaders to help residents solve local problems. In 1996, Laubach began sponsoring an educational component of the Soroptimist effort, helping women in the barrio learn to read and write. The learners use their literacy skills in action committees to advance the welfare of their families and communities. Together they have constructed a children�s school and an adult learning center, planted trees, and improved the infrastructure of the area. Currently, the adult classes integrate basic reading and writing skills with job skills, such as hairstyling and clothing production.

Dinner Banquet Keynote Speaker
May 31st 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Walter Anderson is the chairman, CEO, and publisher of Parade Publications. He joined Parade magazine in 1980 as the editor, and oversaw the rise of its circulation from 21 million to over 37 million in 343 Sunday newspapers. A champion of the cause of literacy, Mr. Anderson made his theatrical debut in 1992 at the Ford Theater in Washington, D.C. with an original program of story-telling to benefit Literacy Volunteers of America. On Sept. 8, 1990, International Literacy Day,  Houghton Mifflin published his book, Read With Me. A high school dropout, he is a national spokesman for the GED. He is also a director of the National Dropout Prevention Fund.

For general information call Marty Kuppinger at 315/422-9121 ext. 352 or e-mail to [email protected].

For sponsorship information call Antonio (Tony) Morales at 315-472-0001, ext. 378 or e-mail to [email protected].