About Us
Beginnings
Beaverton Literacy Council (BLC) is a community-based, all-volunteer organization. It began in the 1960's with four volunteers who tutored students one-on-one. In 1984, small group tutoring was started at the old Beaverton Library. Today, BLC has over 80 volunteers teaching English to over 450 students from more than 45 countries. Classes take place online and in locations around Beaverton, Oregon.
Mission
To empower and support adult learners by teaching English and building community.
Vision
For learners to have the confidence and skills to participate fully in their communities.
Core Values
We believe in:
Focusing on what students want and need
Building community
Empowering students to be confident and independent
Enabling fair access and outcomes
Supporting volunteers and students as lifelong learners
Interacting with honesty, empathy, and respect
Teaching and learning with enthusiasm and joy
You can make a difference!
The community's need exceeds our current capability. To learn about volunteering, click here.
We appreciate your financial support! To learn about donating to BLC, please click here.
Board of Directors
All board members wear multiple hats. Here's a sampling of roles:
Linda Bonder - President, morning online class coordinator
Jim Keniston - Vice President, evening volunteer coordinator
Leslie Franks - Secretary, BLC mentor coordinator
Anne Hughes - Treasurer
Gabriela Almeida - enrichment class coordinator
Betty Merritt - morning In-person class coordinator
Scott Ringwald - evening class registrar
Parul Saxena - textbook coordinator
Marina Solans - Language Assistant coordinator
If you are interested in attending a board meeting or have other questions or comments for the board, please contact the president at admin@beavertonliteracy.org.
BLC is registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, tax ID #93-1280268. Donations are tax deductible as charitable contributions.
Beaverton Literacy Non-Discrimination Policy
BLC is committed to providing a learning environment that is free from discrimination and harassment. All BLC students and instructors must be at least 18 years of age. With that exception, BLC does not and shall not tolerate a climate of discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, or any other characteristic protected by law, in any of its activities or operations. Questions or concerns about harassment or discrimination in BLC programs should be directed to a volunteer coordinator or member of the board.
Privacy policy
Beaverton Literacy Council (BLC) respects your privacy. Our website does not use cookies or any other automated data collection. Our web site does not collect any information about you unless you fill in a form to register as a volunteer or a student. If you fill in a form, we collect only the data that you enter plus the date and time that you submitted the form. Your information is used only to manage our classes and to send you information about our programs.
The information from the volunteer and student forms on our web site automatically goes into our secure, password-protected Airtable database. It is kept securely in our database for ten years so we can track progress through our program. Only BLC board members and volunteers with a need-to-know can access your information. We do not share your information with anyone outside BLC. If you want to know what information we have about you, or if you want us to delete the information we have about you, please contact admin@beavertonliteracy.org.