Meet Kristen, our new Director of the Board
Kristen Lieving grew up in Los Angeles, CA, and moved to Santa Fe shortly after graduating from college. Kristen is a first-generation college graduate. Her lifelong love of reading led her to study English in college. After attending community college in CA, she transferred to UCLA where she earned a BA in English literature. She went on to get a master’s degree in social work from New Mexico Highlands University. Kristen first started tutoring when she was a student at UCLA for a program called the UCLA Prison Project, which was a collaboration with the California Youth Authority (CYA). It was during her time tutoring youth detained in maximum security at CYA that she realized the importance of working with people on their literacy skills. After graduating from college, Kristen’s first job was working as an English tutor with a high school in the Los Angeles area. She went on to tutor for Literacy Volunteers of America in Missoula, MT, and Literacy Volunteers of Santa Fe, where she was an ESL, citizenship, and basic literacy tutor.
Kristen believes that literacy is a path to opportunity, self-determination, and empowerment. Watching her grandmother (her “Nonna”), an Italian immigrant, go to night school to get her high school diploma made an impact on her as a child. She watched her Nonna’s determination to get her diploma, taking the bus to classes after a long day working.
Kristen sees literacy as a social justice and public health issue: literacy means having the ability to gain access to jobs, knowing how to consume health information, and engaging in an increasingly complex world. Literacy goes beyond reading and writing to include how to be a consumer of information and to develop critical thinking skills. Developing the skill to communicate effectively has a far-reaching impact for individuals, families, communities, and society as a whole.
After working for many years as a social worker, Kristen changed careers and started teaching at Santa Fe Community College. She is an instructor with the Adult and Career Education program, currently teaching GED classes in English and social studies, as well as a Community Health Worker Certificate course in the Allied Health department. She lives in Santa Fe with her husband, daughter, and five animals.
Survey Coming Soon
Those who participated in LVSF’s April 30th Dinner With An Author fundraiser be on the lookout for a Survey Monkey email asking for your feedback. The zoom April 30th event was our first “virtual” dinner and we are interested in your opinions. So, please do take a few minutes to respond to the brief survey. We thank you in advance.
Invitation to Consider the LVSF Board
The Board greatly appreciate our tutors and donors and we invite you to consider another step in supporting the mission of Literacy Volunteers of Santa Fe. Please consider serving a three-year term on the Board of Directors. We are seeking people with a wide range of experience in the community and especially could use those with fundraising, communications, financial or legal experience. Internet and social media skills are a plus. We invite people from the business arena who want to share their skills with a non profit. Please contact Board President Joene Herr at her email.