Family Liaisons
The ECA Family Liaisons are representatives from different cultural communities within Niles Township. Currently, we have Family Liaisons who speak Urdu, Dari, Farsi, Arabic, Assyrian, and Spanish. Our Family Liaisons provide critical services to families such as assisting families with enrollment in services, completing intakes, interpreting home visiting services, connecting families with WIC, SNAP, and other benefits, helping families access health services, providing interpretation during bi-weekly Parent Support Groups, making financial and emergency assistance available, and other communication needs necessary for families to build the best possible quality of life.
Contact
Ximena, Family Liasion (Speaking English and Spanish) - nancys@nilestownshipeca.org
Zakia Ali, Family Liaison (Speaking English, Farci, and Dari) - zakiaa@nilestownshipeca.org
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- Family Engagement Coordinator
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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Family Liaison
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.
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Family Liaison
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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Family Liaison
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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Family Liaison
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. -
