Delivered on Tuesaday, June 3, 2025

With high turnover, effective succession, contingency and onboarding documentation/planning are crucial for the sustainability and resilience of LBS programs.

During the session, guests from the literacy community discussed what they have been doing and shared tools and examples to help participants develop practical file management systems, documentation and plans to ensure smoother operations, staff transitions and the continuity of programs in the face of unexpected challenges.

Insightful tips and best practices were shared to help participants create robust organizational documentation/plans and processes, and provide space to share various examples and ideas.

PRESENTATION SLIDES

First slide of the Virtual Showcase Session 2 2025 presentation.

VIDEO RECORDING

SHARED RESOURCES

Orientation to Literacy and Basic Skills for Regional Literacy Networks from Literacy Link Eastern Ontario

Hiring in Adult Training from Learning Ontario Central South

Human Resources and Succession Planning Toolkits

Living Manual Example (Google Doc)

Living Manual Example (Force Copy)

PRESENTERS

Carrie Wakeford, Executive Director at Learning Ontario Central South (LOCS)

Carrie Wakeford has been the Executive Director of Learning Ontario Central South (LOCS) for the past 5 years. Prior to coming to LOCS, Carrie was self employed designing and facilitating in person and online training. She also completed research and managed projects for the ministry and for LBS, employment organizations and the Workforce Development Board. Carrie also provided individual career counselling and taught in the Career Development Practitioner program at Conestoga College. In 2019 Carrie won the ‘Outstanding Career Professional Award’ with Career Professionals of Canada. Prior to that she worked in computer training and she managed an employment counselling organization.

Brandy Smith, Executive Director at Literacy Link Eastern Ontario (LLEO)

Brandy is the Executive Director at Literacy Link Eastern Ontario (LLEO) and she still considers herself new in this position after 2 years. Brandy joined the literacy field after working in libraries for many years including Kingston Frontenac Public Library, Queen’s University Teacher Resource Centre and Brockville Public Library. Brandy is dedicated to social justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. She has received an Ally Award for her work with Brockville Pride and recognition from the Every Kid in Our Community committee as a Youth Asset Builder. She enjoys spending time with her family and cats, and reading is her sport.

Melanie Burton, Program Coordinator, Academic Upgrading at Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology

Melanie is the Program Coordinator and Academic Advisor for Academic Upgrading at Algonquin College Pembroke Campus. She has worked in various spaces including twenty years in early literacy, 5 years in Employment Services and Ontario Works and the last 5 years in Academic Upgrading. If not spending time in nature with her partner, Josh, she is probably training her cats to walk on a leash … yes, really. Melanie believes that, like chefs, ‘slow is smooth and smooth is fast’ (Work Clean by Dan Charnas) and works to bring processes that will create smoothness for all team members into her daily work.

Alan Cherwinski, Executive Director at AlphaPlus

Alan has been the Executive Director of AlphaPlus since 2015, but his involvement with the organization dates to its founding. As a leader in the literacy field with comprehensive knowledge of the affordances and limitations of educational and administrative uses of technology, Alan advances an understanding of information literacy and blended learning that moves the field forward. He guides the team’s work with adult learning programs to understand, research, plan and integrate emerging digital tools to meet the needs of staff and learners effectively and creatively.

Bio coming soon.

Sara King from Northern College – Moosonee Campus, Moose Factory, Fort Albany, Kashechewan & Attawapiskat Access Centres and Janet Oettgen from Niagara West Adult Learning Centre share how they are using using social media to effectively attract, engage, teach and stay in touch with their learners and partners.

Quick links/tips and additional resources:

See more about the Showcase and the presentersarrow right

Presenters from two programs share how they are using Microsoft OneNote to organize and manage learner files. Sara King from Northern College and Christa Porter from Gateway Centre for Learning demonstrate ways OneNote helps them keep all their learner forms and files in one place making it easy to access, replicate and share with others.

Sara and Christa shared some resources with us:

See more about the Showcase and the presentersarrow right

Are you wondering whether your next technology purchases should be laptops or tablets?

What operating system (Apple, Android, Windows) would work best in your program? 

Should you buy a new device or would refurbished devices meet all of your needs in both the short and long term?

Purchasing devices is an expensive endeavour, and there’s a myriad of options to choose from. AlphaPlus can help you plan and choose devices that best suit your needs and fit into your budget.

We can: 

A website is a great way to communicate with volunteers, learners and others in your community about what you’re doing and how to access your program, process some of the administration forms, and curate resource collections for staff, learners and volunteers.

Here are some sites that AlphaPlus coaches have supported:

AlphaPlus can help you choose a website builder and guide you through the website planning and creation process.

We can: 

Programs are using social media to communicate with volunteers, learners and others in their communities about what they’re doing and how to access their programs and to make connections with adult educators in other fields and jurisdictions.

Which platform or platforms are best for your program?

Facebook? Instagram? LinkedIn? Twitter? TikTok? 

AlphaPlus can help you choose and learn about social media for your program.

We can: 

Programs are using video conferencing tools for meetings, intake and assessment, tutor training, professional learning, instruction and collaborating with learners and much more.

Which tool is best for your program? Zoom? Google Meet? Microsoft Teams? Webex? Lifesize? UberConference? Skype? Facebook Live? 

AlphaPlus can help you choose a video conferencing tool or tools that will work best for your program and your instructors.

We can: 

Here are some examples of how AlphaPlus coaches work with programs on finding solutions:

Do you have access to Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 and are you wondering how to take advantage of all the features? 

AlphaPlus can help you choose and learn about a productivity suite that will work best for your program.

We can: 

Here are some examples of how AlphaPlus coaches work with programs on finding solutions:

Presenters from three programs share how they digitize and organize activities and learner files.

See more about the Showcase and the presentersarrow right

During the spring of 2020, all educational sectors, including Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS), made the shift to remote learning. The LBS shift was managed primarily at a local level. Comprehensive training, widely accessible instructional design expertise, tech support and additional funding to purchase data and computers for learners was not available. Each program made its own decisions.

How did programs adapt? What were their priorities? What were their challenges? This report, based on a short survey delivered during the last two weeks of June 2020, provides some answers, identifies challenges and raises concerns about the uneven impacts on learners and sectors and uneven access to resources that could be mobilized to manage the shift. The findings provide a basis for discussion and planning at both the local and provincial levels.

Fast Facts From the Survey Results