Our Story Continues with LitWorld

Our audience attracts creative-minded, compassionate avid readers and writers, which is why we set out to find a long-term charity partner that cultivated a love of reading and writing worldwide.

LitWorld is a non-profit organization dedicated to on-the-ground innovative solutions to tackling illiteracy worldwide. Based in 28 countries, LitWorld created three programs that stand today as the organization's core models: LitClubs, LitCamps, and World Read Aloud Day. Storiarts shares their vision to strengthen children and communities through the power of their own stories and to connect people with the love of books.

Every Storiarts purchase helps children worldwide learn to read, write, and create. The next chapter in our story is helping kids write their own. 

Find out more about this amazing organization by checking out our Q and A interview with LitWorld below!

Q&A with LitWorld

Why and when was LitWorld founded?

LitWorld was founded in 2007 after Pam Allyn, literacy educator and author, visited Kibera, an area of extreme poverty in Nairobi, Kenya. There, she experienced the urgent desire children have to read, write and share their stories, and the barriers that so often stand in their way. Inspired by her visit, Pam returned to New York and mobilized a group of friends and leaders to join her in building a new movement founded on the belief that literacy is a foundational human right that brings joy, economic independence, gender equity and a pathway out of poverty. LitWorld set out to create a community-based approach to programs and training that would lead to transformational literacy defined by dreams that can come true.

What is LitWorld most excited for in 2018?

We are poised for a very exciting 2018 thanks to the foundation we have built over our first ten years. LitWorld now brings year-round in-depth LitClub and LitCamp programming to communities in 28 countries in collaboration with 52 locally-based grassroots organizations, and also bring our core ideas to scale, reaching hundreds of thousands of kids in direct programming and millions of participants in events and online engagement through strategic partnerships and advocacy work, including the HerStory Campaign, Scholastic LitCamp and World Read Aloud Day. This year we are digging into each of our unique approaches to refine our vision, create more in-depth impact measurement strategies, and collect and share many more of the incredible stories that come from our “LitKids” around the world.

What's one thing you want our Storiarts customers to know about LitWorld?

Everything we do stems from a place of joy! We partner with local, grassroots organizations who know the language, culture, and needs of their communities to provide year-round, child-centered programming that encourages self-expression, builds understanding, and cultivates confidence, using literacy as a tool and pathway for self-empowerment. We believe reading and learning should be a positive experience for all children, and we take that very seriously. Joy matters to engage and stimulate kids’ creativity, cultivate a love of reading and writing, and achieve successful academic outcomes.