It is important to customize each workshop to meet the particular needs of that organization (see Appendix T- Customizing Workshops). Customizing is an approach to workshop design that seriously considers ownership, responsibility and intended outcomes. We recommend that you meet with staff prior to the workshop to learn how to prepare the workshop to best suit their agency.

Do – Partnerships and Sustainability

Partnerships are integral to sustaining positive literacy practices in organizations and communities. Partnerships are relationships based on a mutual understanding of the purpose of the partnership. They require care, commitment and clarity. We had formal and informal partnerships in the CLC project. The formal partnerships were outlined in writing (see Appendix U – Partnership letter), and the informal partnerships tended to be ongoing working relationships with a number of organizations such as the local adult literacy program, and interagency work groups.

Informal partnerships:

• Are ongoing, fluid and flexible
• Can be led by allies and literacy champions in the community
• Are cooperative, sharing resources and supporting client referrals
• Happen in response to a community need
• Can lead to a formal partnership, which is fixed in purpose and time
• Can sustain the work by providing ongoing support to maintain literacy positive changes, and even build on them

One literacy specialist partnered with a service provider, who is a literacy champion, to co-facilitate a literacy sensitivity and awareness workshop for other service providers from different organizations.