Literacy Leadership New VISTA Project Application 2026-27 

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This application is for NEW Literacy Leadership AmeriCorps VISTA projects for 2026-27. 

For detailed information on hosting a Literacy Leader and to view our detailed Request for Proposals, please visit www.literacymn.org/americorps-vista.

 


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Timeline (if selected) 

Please save the dates!

  • January 16, 2026 - New project/host site application due
  • January 30 - Notification of application decision
  • February 17 - Attend Supervisor Orientation, Part 1
  • February 24 - Submit first draft of workplan (Literacy Minnesota staff will work closely with you on any revisions before submission to AmeriCorps for final approval)
  • March 10 - Attend Supervisor Orientation, Part 2
  • March - June - Literacy Leader member recruitment, interviews, and selection
  • April 14 - Signed Site Agreement, Board letter of commitment, and initial non-refundable $1,000 payment toward cost-share due
  • May 20* - deadline to select final Literacy Leader candidate
  • June 15 - Site Orientation Plan and Organizational Assessment due
  • June 29* - Literacy Leader member begins service (last day of service will be June 28, 2027)
  • July 13-17 - Tentative member Early Service Training with Literacy Minnesota
  • October 2026 (TBD) - VISTA member/supervisor joint training
*Alternate start dates may be available on a case-by-case basis.

Cost-share
As part of your agency's commitment to host a Literacy Leader, the host agency contributes a cost-share financial match. The cost-share rate is currently $9,000 per VISTA member. (An initial $1,000 payment will be due in April 2026, and the remainder will be invoiced after your VISTA begins service.) 

Please note that cost-share rates may increase due to increases to the federal living allowance rates.

Questions?
Contact Jesse Chang, ,jchang@literacymn.org 651-251-9096.
ORGANIZATION INFORMATION

Please provide information on the organization applying to host a Literacy Leader.

 

Federal tax ID number ##-#######
INFORMATION ON THE SERVICE LOCATION
CONTACT INFORMATION

Please provide information on the people we may contact regarding this application and this Literacy Leadership project.

Literacy Leadership site supervisor
Additional staff
PARTICIPATION IN NATIONAL SERVICE PROGRAMS

Please provide information, to the best of your knowledge, about your organization's involvement with national service programs. National service programs include: AmeriCorps, AmeriCorps VISTA, CTEP, Promise Fellows, Reading Corps, Math Corps, Senior Corps, RSVP, Experience Corps, Public Allies, College Possible, City Year, and others. 




REMINDER: To save your work, click "Save my progress and resume later" at the top of any page. You will be prompted to enter your email address and create a password. You may then choose to “Resume this form now.” You may also log back in to the form later. At any point before you click "submit" and then “confirm” at the end, you may return to a page and make changes. 
ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION
Please describe your organization. Include a brief summary of: organization’s history; mission and goals; current programs or activities; relevant statistics about how many people you serve and in what way; and recent accomplishments or strengths of your organization.
SUMMARY OF REQUEST

Organizations are generally awarded one Literacy Leader VISTA per year for a project, which is typically renewed for 3-5 years. If your organization would like to request more than one Literacy Leader per year for this project, please use the narrative sections to make the case for why this is necessary. If your organization would like to apply for more than one distinct Literacy Leadership project, please complete a separate application for each project.

Literacy Leadership Project Track
TARGET POPULATION
School Readiness: serving early childhood/pre-school children; supporting pre-literacy skills and social/emotional school readiness skills; family literacy

K-12 Success: serving school-age children and youth; supporting literacy skills, general academic achievement and engagement, on-time graduation and/or transitions to post-secondary education, digital literacy/technology education 

Adult Literacy: serving adult or young adult individuals not enrolled in K-12 school system; supporting English as a Second Language preparation for GED or other high school equivalency credential, Navigation, digital literacy, distance learning, pathways to college and career readiness, and/or other adult education services; parent education or family literacy
Program interventions:
Which of the following interventions describe the programming supported by the project? (This does not refer to the service activities of the VISTA, but rather, a description of the programs and services the VISTA project will support.) Check all that apply.
Which of these interventions describe the programming supported by the project? (This does not refer to the service activities of the VISTA, but rather, a description of the programs and services the VISTA project will support.) Check all that apply.
Which of these interventions describe the programming supported by the project? (This does not refer to the service activities of the VISTA, but rather, a description of the programs and services the VISTA project will support.) Check all that apply.
Which of these interventions describe the programming supported by the project? (This does not refer to the service activities of the VISTA, but rather, a description of the programs and services the VISTA project will support.) Check all that apply.
GOALS
SCALE/REACH = As a result of this project, we will be able to SERVE MORE people or a NEW GROUP of people. (Adding new literacy services or expanding existing literacy services in order to serve more individuals)

EFFECTIVENESS = As a result of this project, we will be able to provide a HIGHER QUALITY of literacy services, particularly for individuals living in poverty. (Enhancing existing programming)
Please provide a brief, 2-3 sentence summary of your project and project goals. What do you hope to accomplish? How will the project help your organization serve more individuals living in poverty, or add new services, or make your organization/program more effective? How will your project lead to pathways out of poverty and increased literacy access and success and/or digital equity for your learners and community? 
REMINDER: To save your work, click "Save my progress and resume later" at the top of any page. You will be prompted to enter your email address and create a password. You may then choose to “Resume this form now.” You may also log back in to the form later. At any point before you click "submit" and then “confirm” at the end, you may return to a page and make changes. 
NEED STATEMENT
Please describe the population that will be served by your proposed project. Include information on poverty in this population and the particular literacy or digital literacy needs of this group; any other relevant demographics (age range, languages, cultures, geographical area served); and current statistical data (citing sources whenever possible) to substantiate the needs of the population who will be served through this project.
How did your organization identify a need for this project? Who was involved in planning for this project? Have members of the target population been involved in identifying the need and/or informing project design? Please explain how the need was identified and/or how the project will incorporate needs assessment to inform project design.
VISION AND SUSTAINABILITY
Describe your long-term vision for this project in greater detail. • What will the Literacy Leader(s) do to build the capacity of your organization, and how will that benefit the target population described in the Need Statement? • How will the community be different 3-5 years from now, as a result of the proposed project (after the project has been completed and Literacy Leadership resources are no longer in place)? • How will your organization be different as a result of the proposed project? • How will your organization ensure that expansions or improvements to programming established with this project can be maintained after the project is complete? (250-350 words)
PROJECT MANAGEMENT & SUPERVISION
Describe how you plan to support and manage the project. Include: who will be involved in the project (at your organization or partners); plan for administrative support of the project; and plan for direct supervision (who, what skills, values or experience do they bring, plan for training and support to the Literacy Leader).
REMINDER: To save your work, click "Save my progress and resume later" at the top of any page. You will be prompted to enter your email address and create a password. You may then choose to “Resume this form now.” You may also log back in to the form later. At any point before you click "submit" and then “confirm” at the end, you may return to a page and make changes. 

Project Plan

Thinking about only the first year of the project (2026-27), please indicate which of the following types of capacity-building responsibilities will be included in the Literacy Leader’s service. (See Request for Proposals for examples and definitions.)
Please provide the estimated amount of the Literacy Leader’s time that will be dedicated to each capacity-building category you selected, and briefly describe the Literacy Leader's duties in the first year of the project (the total percent of time should add up to, and not exceed, 100% of the Literacy Leader’s time).
Description of activities % of VISTA's time
Developing, Designing or Enhancing Program Content
Designing or Conducting Program Evaluation
Developing or Strengthening Goals/Performance Targets and Milestones
Developing and Nurturing Partnerships
Enhancing Volunteer Recruitment and/or Training
Improving Volunteer Systems
Implementing New Program-Related Outreach or Fundraising Strategies
Data: outputs and outcomes
Based on your responses, the following outputs and outcomes appear to be applicable to your project. Please fill in a target number that you expect to be able to reach after Year 1 of your project.

Please be reasonable about what will be manageable to accomplish in one year and something that you will be able to measure and report on. If you will be unable to track/report on this data in year 1, you may enter "0."  (Items will vary depending on responses in previous questions.)

Contact Jesse Chang for any questions about this application (jchang@literacymn.org, 651-251-9069).

 

Once you click "submit," you will have a chance to review your full application. Please ensure that all fields are complete. You must then click "confirm." Once you confirm, a copy of the completed application will be sent immediately to the email address listed for the person completing this form. 


Applicants will be notified by January 30 of award decisions and next steps. 

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