ProLiteracy is pleased to announce that our Board of Directors has appointed longtime Board Member Kate Costello-Sullivan to the position of Board Chair.
The 2-year appointment was made official October 5, leading into the biennial ProLiteracy Conference on Adult Education held Oct. 6–9 in Baltimore, MD.
Kate Costello-Sullivan with Van Jones at our recent Conference on Adult Literacy. Jones delivered the keynote address at the conference.
In this role, Costello-Sullivan’s sound judgment, passion, eagerness, curiosity, and fiscal responsibility will guide ProLiteracy to carry on our mission of changing lives and communities through the power of adult literacy.
Costello-Sullivan, professor and former Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY, comes to this position after the successful tenure of Ginger Duiven, director of institutional relations for the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services in New York, NY.
Duiven led ProLiteracy with a growth mindset that has given us the capability to expand our reach and allowed us to serve adult literacy programs in new and better ways. Under her leadership, the board supported a more entrepreneurial strategy with partnerships with organizations like Guild and employer partners such as Target, Chipotle, Hilton, and others, creating a new funding source to deliver education to adult learners in the workplace.
“It has been my honor to lead ProLiteracy and to watch the organization’s continued growth and innovation to carry out its mission through the many changes our world has seen in the past four years,” Duiven said. “As I pass the torch to Kate, I am confident in her ability and shared passion to shepherd ProLiteracy forward.”
We are sincerely grateful to Duiven for her service and her continued service, as she will remain a member at large on the board.
“Ginger’s unwavering commitment and guidance over the past four years have been instrumental in strengthening our organization and advancing our mission,” said Mark Vineis, ProLiteracy president and CEO. “The expertise and energy Kate brings to this position will continue to fuel our momentum to shine a brighter light on the power of adult literacy.”
“I’m inspired by the work of ProLiteracy, evidenced by my 8 years on the board. In accepting this honor to lead such an amazing nonprofit that has literally been a part of changing the lives of millions of people, I am humbled,” Costello-Sullivan said.
About Kate Costello-Sullivan
Costello-Sullivan is professor of Modern Irish Literature and former Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY. She is the author of two monographs, Mother/Country: Politics of the Personal in the Fiction of Colm Tóibín and Trauma and Recovery in the Twenty-First-Century Irish Novel. She is also the editor of J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s novella Carmilla and Norah Hoult’s Poor Women! As past president of the American Conference for Irish Studies—the oldest Irish academic organization in the world—she interacted frequently with the Irish Embassy, as well as with academics from all over the world. Costello-Sullivan currently serves as the first female editor of the Syracuse University Press Irish line—the oldest such series in North America.