GLISI 2024 Year in Review

Architects of Conditions 2024 Year In Review

A Letter from our CEO & Board Chair

Leaders are architects of conditions. If the destination is audacious enough, if it is worthy of the next generation, then leaders must create the conditions that unleash people to thrive, connect, innovate, and bring that future to life. In 2024, as an organization leading leaders, GLISI was an architect of three conditions essential for a civically, socially, and economically prosperous future Georgia: trust, unity, and literacy. Our work weaved threads of trust among educators in schools and across disparate corners of communities, amplifying voices too often left unheard. We leveraged those trust foundations to create a sense of belonging and unity that is a safe space for raising questions, trying new things, making imperfect moves, experiencing discomfort, and most important of all, learning and improving. Those are the conditions needed for a literacy culture to emerge not only in schools but across communities where the language environment is part of developing literacy skills. This report highlights our 2024 work building the conditions of trust, unity, and literacy, serving 5,818 leaders and community members across 132 districts and organizations, ultimately impacting nearly 1.3 million Georgia students. The work of nurturing trust, strengthening unity and even advancing literacy is a responsibility shared by every community member – even you. We invite you to become trust-builders, unity-catalysts and literacy- accelerators in every community of which you are a part – read on for inspiration and tools to help! Thank you in advance for how your contribution complements our mission to Uplift > Transform > Create > Build excellent and equitable schools. #UnityLiteracyTrust

132 Districts & Organizations Engaged

5,818 Leaders & Community Members Served

1,296,030+ Students Reached

Warmly, Leslie Hazle Bussey, Ph.D. CEO & Executive Director

Korynn Schooley Board Chair Vice President College Access Achieve Atlanta

No 1. Trust Cultivate trust with skilled intention In our impatient quest for “results,” we too rarely invest the time or build the skills needed to develop enduring trust.

Trust is choosing to risk making something valuable to you vulnerable to another person’s actions.

Whatever matters to human beings, trust is the atmosphere in which it thrives. Sissela Bok

of Americans believe we trust each other less than we did 20 years ago.* 71%

Charles Feltman

Nothing meaningful improves without trust at the foundation Trust is a non-negotiable ingredient for change efforts to be successful long-term. The more complex the change, the more essential it is to build trust with those impacted. It is understandable how challenges facing communities across Georgia such as workforce shortages, an aging population, low literacy, youth disengagement, and deteriorating mental health can tempt leaders to rush past trust- building to “get sleeves rolled up,” but it does not end up saving time as stakeholders lose confidence, fall away, or sabotage change. The process of building trust - which takes place over time through intentional structured approaches to humanize every person and build muscle in empathy and perspective-taking - requires every person to experience being seen, heard, and understood. It takes in-person, one-on-one work. Trust-building is legitimate goal-accelerating work and demands skilled facilitation to draw it out.

Through our partnership with GLISI, leaders in our district developed their ability to think outside of the box or with a broader view which enhanced our culture by building trust. White County District Leader Honestly discussing the work helped us to self-reflect and be able to own our part of the problem, therefore hopefully opening the space to trust and

By The Numbers Our Impact

not get offended. LIT Cohort 1 Participant

100% of RETAIN participants reported their team’s trust strengthened

25 hours of 1-on-1 time cultivating trust between White County Superintendent and Aspiring Leaders

RETAIN by Building Trust

*Pew Research Center, Trust and Distrust in America, 2019

No 2. Unity Gather across lines of difference to foster unity Differences don’t have to mean division. Leading toward unity names the need and creates affirming space for contributions from every part of a community.

Out there is in here. Peter Senge

of Americans say the country is more divided than united.* 81%

Social trust is a measure of whether the people and institutions of a society keep their promises and work for the common good. David Brooks

Unity breeds collective optimism Unity is the opposite of isolation. Rather than feeling disconnected, the experience of unity in a group is a feeling of belonging without sacrificing authenticity. When people feel their unique strengths and talents are welcome and needed - that they don’t have to earn a title or pretend to be something they are not in order to be valued - there is a collective power that accrues to the group. This esprit de corps is too commonly missing in modern organizations. Leaders can unwittingly reinforce disunity by trying to build consensus or compromise rather than creating space for people to be known by one another, especially across conventional silos or teams. Whether in schools, organizations, or communities - we often say ‘anywhere two or more are gathered’ - people blossom, organizational cultures thrive, and performance improves when people experience that they are not alone and matter to the future success of the organization.

We had all different kinds of people in there, different backgrounds, race, and none of that matters because we got in there and we just started learning together and growing together and so we realized we all had common goals. Douglas FORWARD Participant I used to think that I didn’t really relate to many of the people I worked with, but now I think that the relationship we have established will allow more collaboration and transparency among the team. BCLS Cohort 69 Participant **

By The Numbers Our Impact

22 Community organizations and municipalities in Sumter County convened to lead towards rural prosperity

She is better equipped to provide constructive feedback, which greatly contributes to our team’s growth and development. Her approach not only helps in addressing issues but also motivates and encourages improvement among the team. Supervisor of Douglas FORWARD Participant

91% of Sumter County community team agreed “This team can do anything we set out to accomplish with focus and effort”

Grow Your Leaders

*Ipsos, Americans view country as deeply divided, but believe most have much in common, 2024 **Base Camp and Leadership Summit

No 3. Literacy Literacy is communication

We too narrowly interpret the task of literacy as teaching children to read when what we must teach - and learn ourselves - is to master language as the essential building block of expression and human connection.

Georgia adults have low literacy skills.** 800,000

Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to

Life expectancy is reduced by up to years due to low-literacy.*** 26.1

Literacy is being able to use “written text to participate in society, achieve one’s goals and develop one’s knowledge and potential.” USA Facts *

combine them. Nathaniel Hawthorne

The foundation of literacy is language Literacy has rightfully received significant public attention in recent years because of how strongly correlated low literacy is with adverse life outcomes. However, literacy is much more than skills that enable the decoding of words or a love of reading. Fundamentally, literacy is about expression. It is about the formulation and communication of ideas through language. Language and literacy are so much more than economic and social necessities; they are the tools that unlock our voices and ideas, hopes and fears, and release them to be shared with others. Language is such a powerful tool in leading change, including the change in how young people are taught to read. Developing language precision and engaging in shared craft talk are markers of high-performing teams and organizations. When adults are both teaching how to read and engaging themselves in developing their language and skill in literacy, a true culture of reading emerges that centers people, connection, and ideas, not just decoding or fluency.

Literacy Implementation Teams (LIT) Participants:

I used to think literacy was a destination to proficiency but now I think literacy is an ongoing journey of growth. I now think about teaching students how to read from a holistic standpoint instead of teaching reading in isolation.

100% of participants agreed LIT helped them reflect critically to improve their practice.

By The Numbers Our Impact

Literacy as a Lifeline

BCLS-participating Paulding County schools saw an increase of +5 to 20 points from 2023 to 2024 in 3rd grade ELA GA Milestone scores

*USAFacts, Which states have the highest and lowest adult literacy rates?, 2023 **Deloitte, The State of Literacy in Georgia, 2023 ***Gilbert et al., Literacy and Life Expectancy, 2018

FY24 Financials Statement of Activities: July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024

4% Government Grants

2024

2023

4% Investment & Other

Revenues and gains:

Contributions & gifts in kind

$1,038,743

$1,049,384

Program fees

$2,189,655

$2,207,285

Revenue $3,511,149

Government Grants

$149,122

Investment gain, net

$127,347

$73,572

Other income

$6,282

Total revenues & gains without donor restrictions Total revenues, gains & support without donor restrictions

$3,511,149

$3,330,244

30% Contributions

62% Program Fees

$3,511,149

$3,330,244

17% General & Administrative

5% Fundraising

Expenses:

Program services

$2,591,199

$2,556,792

General & administrative

$577,474

$535,968

Fundraising

$176,328

$153,496

Expense $3,345,001

Total expenses

$3,345,001

$3,246,256

Change in net assets without donor restrictions:

Increase in net assets

$166,148

$83,988

Net assets beginning of year

$3,531,768

$3,447,780

Net assets end of year

$3,697,916

$3,531,768

77% Program

07/01/2023 - 06/30/2024 Sponsors, Contributors & Donors Thank you to our donors and sponsors whose investments fuel our mission to build a brighter future for Georgia’s students and families.