Our New Mission: Literacy to Liberation
We’ve changed our mission to better reflect our work, purpose, and the children we serve.

Our New Mission
Children’s Literacy Initiative seeks to dismantle structural racism by providing Black and Latinx children with the anti-racist early literacy instruction, support, and advocacy needed to create equity in education.

Sharpening Our Focus
CLI believes that systemic change is the only solution to the current social unrest and the only way that the public education system will become equitable for children of color. Below we outline the journey our organization has been on and what precipitated our mission sharpening.

Growing within the Organization
The social unrest around racial justice in 2020 added urgency to equity work that CLI had already started. In 2019, CLI engaged outside facilitators to provide racial literacy trainings for staff members and started an extensive review of the book collections it provides to schools.

Systemic change is the only solution to the current social unrest brought about by social inequities. And systemic change is the only way that the public education system will become equitable for children of color.

Collaborating with School Districts
Leaders in Transforming Early Literacy Research into Practice

We continue to build relationships with scholars and practitioners of color who add valuable and timely insights that we leverage across all workshop, seminar, and teacher learning content.

Transforming Research into Practice

An Ongoing Pursuit

Download the CLI Position Statement
Learn more about our sharpened mission in the Statement on Anti-Racism to Support Early Literacy Instruction and Learning. This report features additional insights on CLI's vision for children and integrated approach to early learning.


Literacy is the very foundation of all learning and the pathway to liberation for every human being. Learn more about our pathway to liberation.
