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Berryhill volunteers as board secretary at Houston County CLCP, which develops, coordinates, promotes, and advocates for adult literacy services in collaboration with Middle Georgia Technical College, the local media, city and county officials, and local businesses. As board secretary, Jessica brings her unique business perspective to the mission of serving adults in need of literacy and English-language instruction. In 2006, Berryhill participated in the Chamber of Commerce Leadership Academy, a leadership training program addressing community-specific issues. There, she met Skip Holmes, the former coordinator of the Houston County Certified Literate Program. Berryhill expressed an interest in the CLCP and was invited to join the board. Her employer encouraged her to accept the opportunity. Berryhill champions literacy. Her involvement stems from her knowledge of how pervasive low literacy skills are in communities. She recognizes that those in need of services are in the workforce and form part of the client and customer base with whom the firm interacts daily. Berryhill is highly involved as board secretary, attending meetings, writing letters of support to obtain additional funding, attending fund-raisers and teacher appreciation events, and providing logistical support for classes and other activities. Her employer’s mission also aligns with her work in adult education. Berryhill commented, “We have had potential clients leave rather than admit they can’t read a contract. Our goals are to protect people’s rights and to grow our business. Neither can happen for the illiterate person who is unaware of their rights and unwilling to permit us to help.” Literacy is essential to understanding important documents, such as legal papers, employment policies, or medical records and benefiting from such information. Berryhill acknowledges that businesses need to earn a profit and that her employers may wonder about the benefits of her philanthropic activities to the firm. She therefore lets them know about the public impact of her efforts, for example, how large the audience will be for a company-sponsored ad or what the expected attendance will be at an event for which Berryhill volunteers for during work hours. Berryhill explains the symbiotic relationship among her literacy work, her employer, and the community: “The better the company does, the better I do. The stronger the community is, the better the business will be.” Encourage employees to volunteer in the community. Berryhill’s employers model volunteerism through their own public service, creating a spirit of community involvement within the company. Additionally, Berryhill is able to perform her duties with the Houston CLCP during work hours, if necessary. The company is “very supportive of [her] involvement with CLCP” and understands when she needs to spend time away from work to attend meetings, make phone calls or help with fund-raisers. Multiply your employee volunteers’ efforts with additional support. Berryhill’s employers are also willing to be financial sponsors of the Houston County CLCP. For example, the Rockefeller Law Center makes financial contributions to fund events that inform the public of the need for and availability of literacy services. The donations from small companies shore up the grants received from large corporations—every gift makes a difference. Benefits to Business "My work with CLCP gives me an opportunity to interact with business leaders and other agencies that helps build our brand and increase awareness of our company and our commitment to our community. But it also benefits the company to support employees as they pursue interests that are meaningful to them." Some of the benefits to the Rockefeller Law Center of its partnership with the Houston County Certified Literate Community Program include:
Benefits to Adult Education Some of the benefits to the Houston County Certified Literate Community Program of its partnership with the Rockefeller Law Center include:
The following resource has been compiled for further reading on topics related to business-adult education partnerships. A pop-up window with a link to and description of the resource will appear as you click on the title. Resources may be categorized below as: Business Partnerships (descriptions of the business-adult education partnerships referenced above); Partnership Profiles (related examples of other community partnerships); How-Tos (guides and tools for establishing partnerships); Research; the Case for Business Involvement; and Web Sites. A complete list of resources related to business-adult education partnerships is found in the Workforce Issues section on the C-PAL Web site. Partnership Profiles The Houston County Certified Literacy Community Program (CLCP) Jessica Berryhill |
