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Gloria Pitchford-Nicholas Receives
Milwaukee Achiever Legacy Award

(left to right) Eileen Schwalbach, president, Mount Mary College; Helen C. Sobehart, president, Cardinal Stritch University; Peg Palmer, executive director, Milwaukee Achiever Literacy Services; David Harvey, president & CEO, ProLiteracy; Gloria Pitchford-Nicholas, dean, Pre-College Education, Milwaukee Area Technical College; Roxane Theisen Kapp, past president, Executive Women International; and Mary J. Meehan, president, Alverno College.

MILWAUKEE (Sept. 24, 2009) – Gloria Pitchford-Nicholas, Milwaukee Area Technical College dean of Pre-College Education, is one of five recipients of a 2009 Legacy Award from Milwaukee Achiever Literacy Services. Pitchford-Nicholas received the award Sept. 24 at a ceremony held at Alverno College.  

Legacy Awards are given to those who share Milwaukee Achiever Literacy Services' mission to empower adults through education. Each of the honorees plays an essential role in forwarding literacy as a means to help Milwaukee adults lead more effective lives at home, at work, and in the community.

"We are very pleased that Milwaukee Achiever Literary Services has recognized Ms. Pitchford-Nicholas' dedication to helping Milwaukee adults to improve their lives through literacy," said Dr. Vicki Martin, MATC interim president. "Her hard work and leadership in this field has helped many individuals, and in turn, enhanced the welfare of whole families."

Pitchford-Nicholas has been the dean of MATC’s Pre-College Division, which has an enrollment of 25,000 students, since 2001. She formerly was associate dean, School-to-Work director, and a full-time instructor for the MATC Adult High School Division. Before joining MATC, she served as a business and industry development coordinator for the State of Wisconsin.

The awards were presented by Toya Washington, WISN-TV news anchor. The event featured keynote speaker David Harvey, president and CEO of ProLiteracy, the world's largest and most knowledgeable organization for adult education. Harvey has been involved in Washington policy and funding committee meetings for the new America Graduation Initiative. He shared an insider's view of the progress being made in federal funding for education programs that will get Milwaukee's workforce ready for jobs in the new economy.

Other award recipients included Mary Meehan, president, Alverno College; Eileen Schwalbach, president, Mount Mary College; Helen C. Sobehart, president, Cardinal Stritch University; and Executive Women International.

The Legacy Award honorees represent all facets of the effort to generate a more capable and educated adult workforce in Milwaukee. Some help through advocacy, some through partnership, some through programming, and some through funding and sponsorship.  Together, they create a community legacy in providing fundamental literacy services that are cutting-edge in design, and relevant to economic conditions in Milwaukee.

More than 27 percent of Milwaukee adults have low or very low levels of literacy; meaning they cannot read at all; or struggle to read instructions, read to their children, find an intersection on a map, or write a short letter. According to ProLiteracy, the effects of low literacy cost the U.S. economy over $225 billion each year in non-productivity in the workforce, crime, and loss of tax revenue due to unemployment.

For more information on the Legacy Awards, visit www.MilwaukeeAchiever.org.