Our Team
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Tina Speaks English
Tina is a passionate advocate of high quality early childhood experiences – equitable access to resources and programming between the ages of 0 - 5 is a necessity for children’s success in elementary school. She is passionate about elevating the voices of all young children, supporting families with young children, and creating equitable opportunities for every family to access information, activities, and resources about early childhood. An equitable community where every child and family can thrive is dependent on access: to information, to resources, and to opportunities – let’s open the doors for everyone.
Tina is the daughter of an immigrant mother who was born in China and immigrated to the United States at 13 and an American born father. While her mother speaks fluent Mandarin with her family of origin, she never did with her own nuclear family, a product of the need to assimilate quickly and become as “American” as possible that was prevalent in the 1950’s. Tina was born in Manhattan, New York and moved to Manhattan, Kansas when she was two spending most of her formative years in Kansas. She has fond memories of being outdoors with her three siblings, making up games in the yard, making flower perfume and mud/sand pies, going on pretend “voyages”, gardening, and running through the neighborhood with friends.
Tina has been in the Early Childhood field for over 30 years. After graduating from Northwestern University with a psychology degree she was unsure of her path forward until she began working in an early childhood program. She taught in a classroom at the same time as attending school to get her Master’s degree in early childhood from the Erikson Institute. She’s been a classroom teacher, assistant director and then Executive Director of a preschool in the Skokie/ Evanston area, all leading her to the ECA to help lead this amazing team and initiative forward.
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“For the past four years I have worked in arts and community non-profit organizations around Chicago, helping them to establish a cohesive identity within the community, and expanding their reach to the people they serve. Growing up on the West Side of Chicago, it has always been important for me to make sure that i’m using my skills to uplift every part of my community, and continue to share and provide resources to the underrepresented and underserved .”
Nancy Ximena Sierra -- Director of Community Engagement — nancys@nilestwonshipeca.org
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Astrid speaks English and Spanish
Astrid was born in Medellin, Colombia, the youngest of seven children. Despite growing up in poverty she has great childhood memories, a result of a mother who was a dreamer (and quite fashionable!) and a very supportive father. Her mom worked hard to create a stable house for the large family and her dad was an enthusiastic truck driver – and from every single trip, he came back full of the most exotic and delicious foods and presents.
Astrid’s work elevating communities began with her mom who loved listening to a Colombian radio program where they were always addressing situations impacting people and places. Astrid later became involved in high school advocacy activities – demanding potable water and clean streets and was involved with the social justice Christmas program that the Catholic Church was leading in her city. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellin. After her degree, she had the opportunity to work with indigenous communities, informal economy workers, communities living under army conflict, and factory workers while pursuing a post-graduate degree in Local Development and Social Research and co-building with an amazing group of rural-farm leaders in Medellin.
Upon immigrating to Chicago as a young adult, Astrid was responsible for the alignment of the Little Village Education Pipeline, creating the first Early Childhood Education Committee in the community. During that time, she obtained her master’s degree in education policy and Instructional Leadership. She sees society as a system – a solar system with immense opportunity to collaborate, co-create social change, and to co-exist with our “tierrita” - to be simply more connected as humanity. Now working with the ECA in the Niles Township area she’s eager to continue this work in helping to create equitable access to quality childcare, early childhood education, housing, food, health and everything a child, family, and a society needs to “develop the human and planet’s full potential.”
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Zakia speaks English, Dari and Farsi
Zakia earned her college degree in Afghanistan, her country of origin, and then spent three years teaching in a classroom before she immigrated to the United States as a young adult. In the US, Zakia was a teacher's assistant for Pre-K students at Philip Rogers Elementary School for 2 years in West Rogers Park, Chicago before having her three children. As an immigrant mom herself, she has experienced the same or similar situations many parents are now facing - not being able to communicate with others, the newness of an entire country and its systems, and the challenge of being a woman, alone while their husband works, with many responsibilities at home and taking care of the children. She enjoys her work as a Family Liaison because she is able to support families in building community, accessing childcare and other early childhood resources, and providing support that parents are not getting from anywhere else. Zakia is also a Dari instructor at the Afghan Salsal Community Center in Evanston where she teaches the Dari language to young children.
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Nahrin speaks English, Arabic, and Assyrian.
Nahrin grew up in Syria and moved to the United States at the age of 20. She is married and has two kids. While it was a big challenge moving to the United States from a foreign country, she considers her biggest challenge to be when her youngest son was diagnosed with autism. Doctors had indicated that his case was “hopeless” but Nahrin was committed to exploring every avenue to help him. She discovered natural health and changing his diet and it created a huge impact for her son. The transformation she saw in her son led her to pursue a certification as an integrative health coach in 2019. She started helping families by sharing her experience and giving them advice and hope. As an ECA Family Liaison she finds joy in helping families gain information and access early learning programs, home visiting, childcare and other services.
Contact
Tina Vanderwarker, ECA Executive Director -- tinav@nilestownshipeca.org
Astrid Suarez -- Director of Collective Impact -- astrids@nilestownshipeca.org
Camila Vick -- Marketing and Communications Specialist — camilav@nilestownshipeca.org
Zakia Ali — Family Liaison zakiaa@nilestownshipeca.org
Sarwar Kahn— Family Liaison sarwark@nilestownshipeca.org
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Nancy speaks English and Spanish
Nancy Ximena Sierra, a dedicated educator and advocate for early childhood development, hails from the vibrant city of Bogotá, Colombia. Her passion for nurturing young minds led her to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from the National Pedagogic University of Colombia.
Throughout her professional journey, Nancy has immersed herself in various cultural and educational environments, sharing her expertise in three different countries: Colombia, Mexico, and the United States. Before assuming her current position as a Family Liaison Coordinator with the Alliance, Nancy crafted an imaginative and motivating curriculum while teaching Spanish, Art, and Music to preschool and kindergarten students at Sacred Heart School in Chicago.
Nancy’s dedication to the ECA’s mission of enhancing the quality of life for children and supporting their families is unwavering. Her commitment to making a positive impact drives her to continue channeling her passion for education and early childhood development into meaningful action, striving to create a brighter future for generations to come.
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Carmen speaks English, and Spanish
Lucia, originally from Bogota, Colombia, pursued her passion for early childhood education in her hometown. She holds a degree in Preschool Education from Antonio Nariño University, as well as a specialization in sexual education from Manuela Beltran University in Colombia. With this educational background, she embarked on a remarkable journey serving as a teacher affiliated with the Bogota Department of Education for over 42 years until her retirement.
Currently, Lucia serves as a Family Liaison at ECA, where her role involves participating in family support meetings, primarily focusing on providing assistance in daycare activities. She also serves as a valuable resource for Spanish-speaking families, offering support and guidance.
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Yamine speaks English, Arabic, and Assyrian.
Yasmine grew up in Jordan in a single parent family where she at a young age took on the responsibility of caring for her younger sibling. This experience was formative for her and made her a more responsible, caring and more passionate individual always willing to help others. Yasmine graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and worked as an accountant in Amman, Jordan before moving to the United States. This draw to helping and caring for others is part of what drew her to her current role as a Family Liaison with the Early Childhood Alliance.
Yasmine is now a mom to two children, one who is autistic. His treatment journey and all the challenges that came with it as she struggled to find the right therapies taught her a lot. Yasmine is able to draw on all of these experiences and share with and support parents who are in need. Besides being a busy mom, Yasmine loves to do makeup in her free time. She also has a YouTube channel where she posts videos for autistic children to teach them different activities.
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Fluent in Urdu and English
Sarwar grew up in Karachi, Pakistan and moved to the United States as a young adult. She is close with her many family members in the area, including a young niece and nephew. She is passionate about helping young children stay connected with their heritage and culture and also teaches Urdu to children in her spare time. Sarwar enjoys creating content including rhymes, books, and fun activities for young kids to learn Urdu to stay connected with their culture of origin. For the past two years, Sarwar has been teaching, facilitating, motivating, and engaging kids in talent shows for young children in the community to stay connected with the Urdu language. -
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Liza speaks English, Arabic, and Assyrian.
Liza grew up in three different countries, Iraq, Lebanon and the U.S. and speaks three languages – all which provided her with the unique ability to care for a broader community. Experiencing different cultural backgrounds and traditions has shaped her to be more culturally sensitive. Shortly after moving to the United States and starting her undergraduate journey here in Chicago, Liza became exposed to even more communities. She grew a true appreciation for the uniqueness and value of different cultures, their traditions, songs and foods. As a board member of the Middle Eastern Student Association club at North Park University she was given a platform to speak freely and celebrate with pride the culture and religions of her home country, Iraq with the entire student community. Liza is excited to use these experiences to support and benefit families from all communities. She is grateful for the ability to connect with and learn from the families who are often underrepresented.