The National Institute for Literacy's Equipped for the Future initiative was undertaken to achieve customer-driven, standards-based reform of adult literacy and lifelong learning through a broad, national consensus-building process. The initiative's six stages are as follows: (1) build consensus on the knowledge and skills adults need to fulfill their responsibilities as parents, citizens, and workers; (2) develop content standards and performance indicators that translate the knowledge and skills into results for adult literacy/basic skills; (3) pilot the standards at adult learning sites across the country; (4) determine how to focus the adult literacy/basic skills system on achieving the desired results; (5) identify the resources required to ensure that the system can be held accountable for meeting results; and (6) establish quality assurance systems requiring continuous improvement based on continuous assessment of results. The initiative is now in the third phase of stage one. To date, more than 1,500 adults have been surveyed to determine what they need from the adult literacy/lifelong learning system to meet their responsibilities as parents, citizens, and workers, and the survey findings have been synthesized into parent, citizen, and worker "role maps," which are presented. (A glossary and list of contact persons are included.) (MN)