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LITERACY INC
NEW YORK, NY · EIN 133911331 · Form 990 · FY2024 · NTEE B92 · Education · Medium ($1M-$10M) · lincnyc.org
revenue
$5.3M
expenses
$6.0M
net assets
$7.8M
employees
56
volunteers
22
program ratio
82%
mission · from form 990

LINC EQUIPS CHILDREN WITH FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY SKILLS BY EMPOWERING FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES.

profile · synthesized from sources

Literacy Inc. (LINC) is a New York City-based nonprofit that equips children from birth to age five with foundational literacy skills by empowering families and communities. The organization runs free community events, parent workshops, and book distribution programs across all five boroughs, with a focus on inclusivity, early learning, and family engagement. LINC partners with hospitals, libraries, and city agencies to promote reading in everyday settings and advocates for policy changes to support early childhood education.

named programs · 6 · from sources

What they call their work

City’s First Readers (CFR)
City Council-funded initiative involving 17 organizations to provide free early literacy activities for NYC families with children from birth to five, including hospital outreach and community events.
Diversity Through Literacy
Annual campaign using culturally diverse children's books to foster empathy, identity, and inclusion, hosted in partnership with libraries and community centers across NYC.
FROG (Family Reading Only Grows)
June-themed initiative promoting daily family reading through outdoor literacy events and community engagement activities.
Reading on the Rails
Annual summer program that takes families on a subway journey to Yankee Stadium, promoting literacy in everyday environments and encouraging reading during out-of-school time.
Upper Manhattan Early Childhood Connect (UMECC)
Resource hub connecting caregivers in Upper Manhattan with early intervention services, pre-K programs, childcare, and literacy resources to support early childhood development.
Very Involved Parent (VIP) Academy
Training program for parents across all five boroughs to become literacy advocates in their communities, equipping them to lead reading programs and promote positive reading habits.
activities · 4 groups

What they do

  • Early Literacy Promotion 6 activities
    • Deliver family literacy programs through workshops and community events
      Provides foundational literacy skills to children by engaging parents and caregivers through workshop series, community events, and home-based literacy practices across all five NYC boroughs. Programs include bilingual (English/Spanish) offerings and are delivered in partnership with schools, libraries, childcare centers, hospitals, and cultural institutions.
    • Implement citywide literacy initiatives with public and private partners
      Coordinates large-scale programs such as City's First Readers and NYC Reads Initiative, providing continuous literacy support from birth through fifth grade in targeted neighborhoods like East Harlem, East New York, and South Jamaica. Includes hospital-based outreach starting at Bellevue Hospital and partnerships with entities like the New York Yankees and Deloitte.
    • Offer virtual literacy programming for remote family participation
      Provides virtual workshops, bilingual storytimes, and interactive literacy events via digital platforms, enabling remote access to LINC activities for families unable to attend in person.
    • Provide neighborhood-level family engagement and resource coordination
      Deploys neighborhood managers in specific NYC communities to connect families with local LINC resources and sustain relationships with community leaders and institutions to promote adoption of the Community Literacy Model.
    • Support immigrant families with trauma-informed, culturally responsive programming
      Provides specialized literacy and emotional well-being programming for immigrant families, including “Know Your Rights” kits and culturally responsive resources, using a trauma-informed approach to support early literacy development.
    • Train caregivers as literacy advocates through VIP Academy
      Trains committed caregivers as Very Involved Parents (VIPs) through the VIP Academy, equipping them to serve as neighborhood literacy leaders who deliver community reading programs and promote early literacy in their communities across all five boroughs.
  • Teacher Professional Development 1 activity
    • Build organizational capacity in early literacy through professional learning
      Designs and delivers professional learning programs for educators and community-based organizations, introducing research-based, culturally responsive, play-based literacy strategies grounded in adult learning theory to strengthen family literacy support services.
  • Children's Book Distribution Programs 1 activity
    • Distribute free books and promote shared reading through mobile app and Literacy Zones
      Operates 35 Literacy Zones at partner sites to provide free books and reading access in community spaces, and supports participation through a mobile app that enables event registration, geolocated literacy events, reminders, rewards, and age-appropriate programming in English and Spanish.
  • Community Festival & Event Production 1 activity
    • Host signature literacy events including Reading on the Rails and virtual celebrations
      Organizes annual citywide events such as Reading on the Rails—where families read together on subways and ferries en route to a celebration—and virtual, bilingual Reading Celebrations focused on inclusion themes like autism awareness during National Autism Acceptance Month.
financials · form 990 · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$5.26M
Contributions & grants$4.90M93%
Program service revenue$00%
Investment income$313K6%
Other revenue$49K
expenses
Total expenses$6.02M
Program expenses82%
Admin / overhead6%
Fundraising12%
Salaries & benefits$4.86M
Grants paid out$0
Largest expense lineCompensation
balance sheet
Total assets$8.17M
Cash$627K
Investments$4.69M
Liabilities$359K
Net assets$7.81M
Liquid reserves10.6 mo
6 years on record · 2019–2024 · YoY revenue -36.8%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024

Who runs it

paid leadership · 6
NameTitleHours/wkCompensation
CARLA GODOY DEPUTY DIRECTOR 40 $171K
LAURA WALSH CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER 40 $157K
JESSICA GOLDFARB CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER 40 $148K
EMMANUEL NOVY CHIEF OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVES 40 $143K
SHARI LEVINE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER 40 $138K
ELIZABETH MANNING DIRECTOR OF EVALUATION AND LEARNING 40 $129K
board members · 19
  • ANDREA NEWBORN — DIRECTOR
  • ANDREW SPRING — DIRECTOR
  • ANN SHORT — DIRECTOR
  • CARL FOLTA — DIRECTOR
  • CARLOS RODRIGUEZ — DIRECTOR
  • DAN LEE — DIRECTOR
  • EMILY GIACOMAN — DIRECTOR
  • JAMES E LIEBER — DIRECTOR
  • JOHN GALISKI — CHAIR, AUDIT COMMITTEE
  • JOHN PANTALENA — DIRECTOR
  • JOHN URBAN — DIRECTOR
  • JORDAN HALPERN-LEISTNER — DIRECTOR
  • KOSHA UDANI — TREASURER
  • MARY FRATTO ROWE — CHAIR
  • PAT MITCHELL — DIRECTOR
  • ROBERT SPIERER — VICE CHAIR
  • RON RENTEL — DIRECTOR
  • STEPHANIE YOUNG — VICE CHAIR
  • TOVA KATZIR — DIRECTOR
relationships · 49

Who they work with

  • Bellevue Hospital Partner — Site of the initial launch of the City’s First Readers Hospital Baby Campaign to connect new parents with early literacy resources.
  • Botanical gardens Partner — Collaborates with botanical gardens to create enriching literacy programming and resources for families.
  • Brooklyn Public Library Partner — Partner in City's First Readers initiative to deliver early childhood literacy programs.
  • City Year Partner — Partner in the NYC Reads Initiative to provide literacy support for children from birth through fifth grade.
  • City’s First Readers Coalition — LINC is a partner organization in City’s First Readers, a coalition of 17 groups funded by the New York City Council to provide free early learning activities for families with children birth to age 5.
  • Community-based organizations Partner — Collaborates with community-based organizations to promote and implement the Community Literacy Model.
  • Deloitte Partner — Collaborated with LINC on Deloitte Impact Day 2026, providing 24 volunteers for an outdoor literacy program in Brooklyn.
  • Doctors' offices Partner — Works with doctors' offices to equip health providers and caregivers with tools to support early literacy and healthy development.
  • East Harlem Partner — Location of a LINC neighborhood with dedicated neighborhood manager.
  • East New York Partner — Location of a LINC neighborhood with dedicated neighborhood manager.
  • Hachette Book Group Partner — LINC participated in the global launch of Hachette Book Group’s Raising Readers PSA: 10 Minutes of Reading a Day. Golden.
  • Hospitals Partner — Collaborates with hospitals to support medical providers working with expectant families and families with young children through early literacy programming.
  • Hunts Point Alliance for Children Partner — Partner in City's First Readers initiative to deliver early childhood literacy programs.
  • Inwood & Washington Heights Partner — Location of a LINC neighborhood with dedicated neighborhood manager.
  • Jewish Child Care Association Partner — Partner in City's First Readers initiative to deliver early childhood literacy programs.
  • Jumpstart Partner — Partner in City's First Readers initiative to deliver early childhood literacy programs.
  • Kingsbridge & Fordham Partner — Location of a LINC neighborhood with dedicated neighborhood manager.
  • Mimi Levin Lieber Partner — Founder of Literacy Inc. (LINC)
  • Museums Partner — Works with museums to develop literacy resources and programming that connect families with cultural learning opportunities.
  • NYC Health+Hospitals/Bellevue Partner — Partner institution collaborating with LINC through its Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics
  • NYU Grossman School of Medicine Partner — Collaborates with LINC on early childhood literacy initiatives; represented by Dr. Alan Mendelsohn, Director of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics
  • New Alternatives for Children Partner — Partner in City's First Readers initiative to deliver early childhood literacy programs.
  • New York Association for the Education of Young Children (NYAEYC) Network — LINC participates in NYAEYC’s annual conference and professional development opportunities for early childhood educators.
  • New York City Council Government — Collaborates on city budget provisions supporting families with children birth through five
  • New York City Council Government — Funds LINC through the City’s First Readers initiative and collaborates on early literacy advocacy efforts.
  • New York City Early Literacy Coalitions Coalition — Participates in citywide coalitions to increase collective impact and leverage strengths with other early literacy organizations.
  • New York Public Library Partner — Partner in City's First Readers initiative to deliver early childhood literacy programs.
  • New York Yankees Partner — Partnered with LINC on the annual Reading on the Rails program.
  • NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Irving Medical Center Partner — Co-leading partner with LINC in the Upper Manhattan Early Childhood Connect initiative.
  • Nutrition offices Partner — Partners with nutrition offices to integrate early literacy support for families with newborns and young children in clinical and community settings.
+ 19 more
strategies · 4

How they approach the work

Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.

  • Community-Led Literacy Ecosystem
    methodology: community_powered_literacy
    By embedding literacy programming within trusted community institutions and equipping local partners to deliver and sustain it, the organization increases adoption and normalization of reading behaviors because programs gain legitimacy, accessibility, and cultural relevance through local ownership.
  • Culturally Responsive Engagement
    methodology: cultural_responsiveness
    By using culturally diverse books and representation in literacy activities, the organization strengthens children's engagement and social-emotional development because seeing themselves reflected in stories fosters belonging, empathy, and motivation to read.
  • Family as First Teachers Model
    methodology: family_centered_literacy
    By recognizing parents and caregivers as children's first teachers and building their capacity to support literacy, the organization produces stronger early reading skills in children because family-led engagement increases consistency, trust, and daily practice in the home environment.
  • Science-of-Reading Instructional Foundation
    methodology: science_of_reading
    By delivering early literacy programming grounded in the science of reading, the organization accelerates foundational literacy skill development in children from birth to age five because the approach aligns with cognitive research on how young brains learn to read.