CHERYL MILLER LOOKS TO LITERALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE
When Cheryl Miller retired from Intel toward the end of 2023, she scoured the horizon for her next challenge. The Encore Fellowship Program helped her find Portland Literacy Council (PLC).
Cheryl joined Portland Literacy Council as the Community Engagement Coordinator. In this role she works to identify new organizations with compatible goals and strives to create deeper collaborations where PLC currently partners.
(Note: PLC recently hired their first Executive Director, Lorie Wigle, who is a former Intel employee.)
Portland Literacy Council is a nonprofit organization that is now 30 years old. PLC is dedicated to promoting adult literacy in Oregon by holding activities such as delivering volunteer tutor training programs online and in person, hosting an annual literacy tutor conference, supporting adults seeking to complete a GED®, and partnering with other literacy programs in the region.
“Providing volunteer tutors with the support and training they need to work with adults who struggle to read, write, speak and understand English is extremely compelling,” Cheryl said.
At PLC, Cheryl works to build stronger networks with organizations that are deploying volunteer tutors, documenting their training needs, and ensuring PLC offers the right classes to support the tutors in their work with adult learners. She also assists in grant writing and finding additional funding sources across various foundations as well as government and corporate programs.
“While working with teams throughout the world and across different functional groups at Intel – from Fabs to Finance, I have learned the value of networking and building relationships that find mutual benefit to achieve better results. I’m trying to bring that learning and apply it to different groups focused on adult literacy. We can all achieve so much more together than what we can if we work in silos,” noted Cheryl.
“Helping PLC reach more volunteers and engage with other nonprofits and organizations such as local libraries, community colleges, etc., enables me to directly benefit my community as we work together to break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy,” Cheryl added. “PLC trains over 200 tutors every year, who in turn go on to impact five times the number of adult learners. I am also helping to increase funding by researching additional grant opportunities that can support the GED Test Taking Voucher program which provides scholarships to low income students working toward their GED certificate.”
PLC offers many classes and workshops for volunteers to take advantage of — from Basic Tutor Training to topic-based continuing education such as ChatGPT — Using AI to Generate Classroom Materials and Activities. Go to https://www.portlandliteracy.org/for-tutors/ to see the full list of upcoming classes.
You can learn about the Portland Literacy Council at https://www.portlandliteracy.org/ or contact Cheryl directly.
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