EWI® is committed to promoting international literacy. In 1992, the EWI® membership selected literacy as its philanthropic focus and since 1999 has held an annual International Reading Rally. EWI® chapters across North America have enlisted the aid of corporations, writers, teachers, and many others to promote reading and writing opportunities to children.

The Adult Students in Scholastic Transition (ASIST) is sponsored annually by EWI®, a non-profit international association that has been a champion of education and community involvement since 1938. The ASIST award is a flexible scholarship program that addresses the needs of adults who are working to improve their situation in life through education. The ASIST program benefits students who, for a variety of reasons, are facing work/life challenges. The applicants are either single parents, individuals just entering the workforce or displaced workers.

The EWI® Scholarship Program (EWISP) is an arm of EWI®'s Business/Career/Development Program (BCDP). The BCDP began in 1974 when Sears, Roebuck and Company invited the corporate office of EWI® to become involved in a community project to encourage the development of careers in business among high school students. For 15 years, the program was co-sponsored and funded by EWI®, Sears, Roebuck and Company, and Lanier Business Products.