Voices of Tomorrow (VOT) is a community-based organization serving childcare providers and families in King County’s East African immigrant and refugee community. VOT was founded in 2012 by two of East African teachers because we saw inequities in the early learning system that deeply impacted the growth, development, and academic performance of our community’s children.
VOT aims to reduce disparities for East African immigrant and refugee children in King County. The African proverb, “We desire to bequest two things to our children—the first one is roots; the second is wings” reflects the dreams we hold for our children. A strong connection to culture and heritage language is a critical protective factor that forms a healthy identity. Thus, VOT creates early learning programs that preserve children’s culture and language while preparing them for success in mainstream English-language schools.
VOT also centers East African parenting practices and promotes community-driven narratives. We will consider our work successful when the children we serve are proudly bicultural and bilingual, rooted in the strengths of their family and community, and when they face the future with hope and resilience, without being held back by inequity.
our mission
Voices of Tomorrow (VOT) is a community-based organization serving childcare providers and families in King County’s East African immigrant and refugee community. VOT’s mission is to preserve immigrant and refugee children’s identity through culturally and linguistically responsive child-focused programs. We work to eliminate inequities in the early learning system that impact the growth, development, and academic performance of our community’s children.
our vision
Voices of Tomorrow’s vision is to be strong, sustainable community that’s successful in defining our own liberation and narratives.
our values
Child Focused
Culturally Responsive
Health & Safety
Racial Equity
Strength-Based
our values
Child Focused
Culturally Responsive
Health & Safety
Racial Equity
Strength-Based
where we work
Headquartered in Burien, Washington, we serve early learning families in South Seattle and South King County. We work together with Seattle Public Schools; Highline School District; and Tukwila School District. And serve statewide childcare providers.
VOT’s priorities
VOT operates the nation’s ONLY Somali-English Dual Language Preschool, which serves 160 children over 5 classroom sites through ECEAP and the Seattle Preschool Program. VOT’s Early Learning program offers high-quality early learning instruction in Somali and English for children aged 3-4, together with supports for healthy development such as developmental, health, and dental screenings and referrals; family support; and nutrition. Our ParentChild+ Home Visiting program matches families with infants and toddlers to trained home visitors from the family’s culture and language group. Home visitors meet with families twice weekly, delivering evidence-based parenting support, child development education, educational toys and books.
VOT acknowledges the family’s role as their child’s first teacher and invites them to share the unique insights they have about their child. We offer families programs and services that aims to meet families where they are and provide the education, training, and resources to boost them as individuals and cultivate a structure that scaffolds collective action. Many of our Adult Programs intend to help bridge the gap between school and home by supporting families in building advocacy skills and knowledge base in how to support their child’s individual developmental needs and develop tactics for managing stress and identify barriers. The program is designed to acknowledge and empower parents that are navigating an overwhelming set of challenges.
VOT works with over 500 East African family child care providers in our HUB Program to maintain high-quality licensed child care sites through training, technical assistance, coaching, and support. Our program supports providers as they run a successful business and implement their own home-based preschool program (a Head Start look-alike). We train child care providers to screen children in their care for developmental delays and refer families to follow-up. This program reaches 3,500 young children.
We launched a Health Department in 2020 to inform program enhancements to meet our community’s extensive mental health needs in a linguistically and culturally appropriate way. We hired a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who has led VOT’s transition to a trauma-informed organization over the past two years. We are carrying out an evidence-based trauma-informed home visiting program for infants and toddlers focused on healthy social-emotional development.
VOT addresses structural inequities in systems and institutions that affect the health, education, and wellbeing of East African immigrant and refugee children. We sit at tables at State, County, and the City to advocate for East African immigrants & refugees. VOT facilitates relationships between state leaders and marginalized communities, and increase civic participation in the public policy process. The long-term impact of the work will be the reduction of education disparities for East African immigrant and refugee communities.
VOT’s priorities
Early Learning
VOT operates the nation’s ONLY Somali-English Dual Language Preschool, which serves 160 children over 5 classroom sites through ECEAP and the Seattle Preschool Program. VOT’s Early Learning program offers high-quality early learning instruction in Somali and English for children aged 3-4, together with supports for healthy development such as developmental, health, and dental screenings and referrals; family support; and nutrition. Our ParentChild+ Home Visiting program matches families with infants and toddlers to trained home visitors from the family’s culture and language group. Home visitors meet with families twice weekly, delivering evidence-based parenting support, child development education, educational toys and books.
Strengthening Families
VOT acknowledges the family’s role as their child’s first teacher and invites them to share the unique insights they have about their child. We offer families programs and services that aims to meet families where they are and provide the education, training, and resources to boost them as individuals and cultivate a structure that scaffolds collective action. Many of our Adult Programs intend to help bridge the gap between school and home by supporting families in building advocacy skills and knowledge base in how to support their child’s individual developmental needs and develop tactics for managing stress and identify barriers. The program is designed to acknowledge and empower parents that are navigating an overwhelming set of challenges.
Family Child Care Provider Capacity Building & Support
VOT works with over 500 East African family child care providers in our HUB Program to maintain high-quality licensed child care sites through training, technical assistance, coaching, and support. Our program supports providers as they run a successful business and implement their own home-based preschool program (a Head Start look-alike). We train child care providers to screen children in their care for developmental delays and refer families to follow-up. This program reaches 3,500 young children.
Health Services
We launched a Health Department in 2020 to inform program enhancements to meet our community’s extensive mental health needs in a linguistically and culturally appropriate way. We hired a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who has led VOT’s transition to a trauma-informed organization over the past two years. We are carrying out an evidence-based trauma-informed home visiting program for infants and toddlers focused on healthy social-emotional development.
Policy & Advocacy
VOT works closely with community partners to advance the growth, development, and school readiness of our community’s children, increase language access and cultural inclusion in governing systems and institutions, and to ensure new or existing public policies consider the health, wellbeing, and lived experience of East African Immigrant and Refugee families. Our Policy & Advocacy work, in conjunction with VOT’s existing programs, aims to decrease education disparities for East African immigrant and refugee children. Our goal and aim to is to increase the strategic impact of ensuring the polices are reflective of the community that is being served. Our mission is to ensure representation is in place for the community that VOT serves. Thus, our staff and community representatives serve as advisors on DCYF, City of Seattle, and King County committees and so much more