Elaine Cairns has worked in the fields of literacy and English as a Second Language for the past fifteen years. Over the years, Elaine has been a volunteer tutor, family literacy practitioner and trainer, teacher, ESL administrator and literacy coordinator. She is President of Literacy Alberta and Co-Executive Director of the Further Education Society (FESA). Elaine is co-author of the award winning Literacy and Parenting Skills (LAPS) program, and is currently supervising a project that will integrate essential skills into the LAPS curriculum, which will then be offered in workplace settings.