Margaret Pfaff

Margaret Pfaff is a self-proclaimed “Bronx Girl”, having been raised in the Bronx, NYC.

She obtained her degree in Public Administration from SUNY and is credentialed in Cornell University’s Empowering Families Project. She is a Field Advisor locally for students enrolled in the Family Development program.

Marj was Director of RSVP from 1987—1997. There she expanded the volunteers in Transition Program (VIT, and created Home Workers and the Travel Club. For the VIT program she received the Eleanor Roosevelt Community Service Award from Governor Cuomo. Marj also received the Distinguished Member award from DAVA for her work with volunteers.

In 1997, following a life-long passion for reading, Marj became Executive Director of Literacy Connections (then Literacy Volunteers). She expanded their adult literacy program to include family literacy, and “Sincerely Yours” and to serve Columbia/Greene Counties. For her work in creating Project READ, a literacy-based enrichment program for children, she received the York State Reading Association’s Literacy Advocate Award.

Marj is a Certified ProLiteracy America Site Reviewer and conducts reviews of literacy organizations to ensure they are delivering quality programs. She has also created Board and Procedural manuals for the NYS office of Literacy New York.

Marj resides in Poughkeepsie with her husband Richard who she met, appropriately, in a bookstore, and is Mom to Kimberly, a teacher in Delaware, and Ryan, a restaurant manager in Colorado. She also has two beloved grandsons, Cameron and Jared Young.