Literacy Lab

The Foundation’s grantmaking in the area of PK-12 education seeks to promote excellence and access to a quality education for all children in Kansas City. The Leading Men Fellowship is a program of the Literacy Lab that places young men of color ages 18-24 in early education classrooms as Literacy Lab tutors. The program seeks to strengthen the city’s human capital pipeline by increasing the number of men of color in the early education teaching profession, which is currently very low. Students who learn from tutors that look like them at a younger age show increased academic performance and socio-emotional outcomes later in school and in life. The Foundation is excited about this program that is reducing racial and socio-economic disparities in our region’s teacher pipeline and placing more young men of color in early education classrooms. For additional information about the Leading Men Fellowship, please visit Literacy Lab’s website.