Interview with Laura Sumner-Coon

An Interview with Laura Sumner-Coon, Executive Director of Racine Literacy Council (RLC)

It might seem counterintuitive for leaders of nonprofit organizations to try to work themselves out of their jobs. Yet our guest on this episode of Voices of Freedom believes that should in fact be their goal.

Laura Sumner-Coon, Executive Director of Racine Literacy Council (RLC), has spent her career starting and leading organizations that are driven to help individuals build better lives.

As she shares on this episode, non-profits should not be afraid to work themselves out of existence. It’s an approach Sumner-Coon carries with her at RLC, an organization that supports the literacy needs of residents who seek to reach their full potential and become engaged citizens.

Topics Discussed on this Episode:

• Laura’s experience working with non-profits and in education reform
• Why she started, and decided to shut down Racine SOAR, an organization that helped parents and schools navigate the area’s first parental choice program
• RLC’s importance to an industrial community like Racine
• The circumstances of those who use RLC’s services, how it helps them achieve their goals, and how they become more engaged citizens
• The extent of RLC’s reach beyond its brick-and-mortar building
• RLC’s 60th anniversary and its future plans

Laura Sumner-Coon started out her career as a reporter and editor for various newspapers, including the former Milwaukee Journal and the Journal Times. She then held communication and development roles with the Racine Dominican Sisters and from there, began a career in education reform, including founding and leading a grassroots effort to establish the first parental choice program in Racine, Wisconsin. She has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in the teacher preparation program.