EW!DC Mentor a Finalist for D.C LEARN's Award 

Jack Jackson (second from left) and some of his fellow finalists 

EW!DC is proud to announce that Jack Jackson, C-SPAN’s Vice President of Administration and Human Resources and fifteen year Reading Mentor for Everybody Wins! DC, was a finalist for the D.C. LEARN’s Literacy Volunteer Award at the 13^th Annual Literacy Awards event on Thursday, December 3, 2009.  

The Annual Literacy Awards Event is an evening devoted to celebrating the achievements made in literacy programs across the District of Columbia, and recognizing the impact of literacy leaders, students, and volunteers. The event was an exciting, emotional night that included virtually every adult, child, and family literacy provider in the city.  

The Literacy Volunteer Award category honors an individual volunteer whose efforts have made a major contribution to a student; an adult, family, or children’s literacy program; or to literacy volunteerism in the District. Other finalists in this category were involved with quality literacy programs with Everybody Wins! DC, Beyond Talent, The Reading Connection and For Love of Children. 

Everybody Wins! DC’s Executive Director Mary Salander commented on the evening “We are thrilled that Jack received recognition for his exceptional commitment to children’s mentoring and literacy through our Power Lunch Program.  For fifteen years Jack has been a fixture at Walker Jones Educational Center working with his students and spreading his positive outlook to students, Everybody Wins! DC staff and to his fellow Reading Mentors.” 

This is not the first time that someone affiliated with Everybody Wins! DC was recognized for their outstanding contributions at the Annual Literacy Awards.  Mary Salander was honored with the Mike Fox Literacy Leader Award at the 11^th Annual Literacy Awards Event in 2007.  The Mike Fox Literacy Award recognizes an individual who has used his or her leadership skills city-wide in a significant way to improve adult, family, or children’s literacy in the District of Columbia. 

D.C. LEARNs is a nonprofit citywide coalition of more than 70 members, most of which are organizations providing adult, family, and children’s literacy services to the residents of Washington, D.C.  D.C. LEARNs’ mission is to work with these organizations to strengthen literacy services and present a strong, unified voice on the importance of literacy as an investment in the community.