Help Us Turn the Page — Vote for LINC at SXSW EDU 2026!

The Conversations We’re Proposing

Literacy in Community (LINC) is excited to share that we are in the running to present at SXSW EDU 2026 with three different proposed sessions—and we need your help during the community voting phase to strengthen our chances of being selected.

If chosen, these sessions will bring LINC’s community-based literacy vision to an audience of educators, leaders, and innovators from across the country. Each proposal reflects a different facet of our work—connecting schools, families, and communities to ensure every child can read.

• Keeping Our Word: Ecosystem-Wide Efforts for a Literate NYC — Executive Director Shari Levine will join partners from NYC Public Schools, Robin Hood’s Learning + Technology Fund, and Columbia University’s CPRL to discuss how a bold 10-year goal—every child in NYC reading—can unite classrooms, homes, libraries, and community organizations.

• Advocate to Educate, Read to Elevate — Chief Program Officer Laura Walsh will share how LINC equips the adults in a child’s life—starting in early childhood—with the tools to prevent illiteracy. This session explores the science of reading, play-based learning, and equitable family engagement to shift systems and raise readers.

• Turning Literacy Data into Family Play — Director of Early Literacy Josh Barocas will present LINC’s model for transforming assessment results into targeted, play-based routines for families, in English and Spanish. This approach helps schools communicate clearly and partner with families to support each child’s growth areas.

How to Vote for LINC

Community voting for SXSW EDU is open August 5–24, 2025. Every vote strengthens our chances of being chosen to share NYC’s literacy story in Austin next year.

Step 1

Go to the SXSW EDU Community Voting page and click “Login” in the upper right corner. Follow the prompts to create an account and confirm your email before proceeding.

Step 2

Once signed in, use the search filters on the left to type LINC. You’ll see 6 results—LINC is involved in 3 sessions. Click the heart icon for each of these:

• Keeping Our Word: Ecosystem-Wide Efforts for a Literate NYC

• Advocate to Educate, Read to Elevate

• Turning Literacy Data into Family Play

Step 3

The hearts will turn red to confirm your votes. Thank you for your support!

By casting your vote, you’re helping amplify the voices of families, educators, and community partners working together to make literacy a reality for every child. SXSW EDU is a huge platform for showing what’s possible when a city unites around reading, and your support brings us one step closer. Thank you for standing with us!