About Us

The mission of the Tesfa Program is to promote public health measures and policies that preserve and improve the health and wellbeing of the Ethiopian community in Washington State. Tesfa started in March 2020, to improve information access about the COVID-19 pandemic. The program initially provided a weekly teleconference to provide timely, curated, translated, and personalized COVID-10 updates to Amharic-speaking Washingtonians. The weekly live program allowed information and discussion to flow between participants, health officials/experts, and program coordinators providing a platform that was accurate but also responsive to the needs and desires of community members. Since then, the program has partnered with the Washington Department of Health, King County/Seattle Public Health, and others to utilize text messaging, robocalls, videos, flyers, and other creative means to improve access to health and social services of the community.

Tesfa means “Hope” in Amharic (one of the top 5 languages spoken in King County) because the program got started to give people hope during these difficult times. Our initial aim was to reduce the disproportionate negative health impact of COVID-19 on the Ethiopian immigrant community in King County. We are leveraging our experience from the last 2.5 years to better equip health and human services organizations so they can improve the quality of their services to the community beyond the pandemic. For example, utilizing our community network, we have administered surveys and interviews to better understand the perceptions and behaviors of this community in accessing healthcare, social services, and health information. We are then taking these findings and distributing them to relevant local stakeholders.

Selam Misgano

Selam Misgano is the founder of the Tesfa Program. Seeing the disproportionate impact of COVID on her community, she started a weekly information sharing and community discussion that shared accurate information about COVID in the Amharic language. Selam immigrated to the US as a teenager and earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Washington. She then went on to earn a dual master's degree in public health and public policy. Since a young age, Selam has found working in the grassroots, hyper-local field to be satisfying. She has worked developing community engagement capacities of SU, UW, and currently for Seattle Public Schools. Selam lives in Seattle with her husband and their two young children.

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Rachael Podesfinski

Rachael plays many roles for the Tesfa Program, ranging from strategizing and budgets to communications & hiring. From her past roles in policy and consulting, she brings a deep understanding of the ways technology, information, and public trust shape community experiences within programs. A former social services case manager, she has an appreciation for the unique needs of the Ethiopian community and hopes this toolkit will better prepare public health and social providers to successfully work with the community. Rachael holds an MPP from the University of Michigan Ford School of Public Policy and recently earned a certificate in Design Thinking.

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Kelly Nguyen

Kelly is a recent Public Health graduate from the University of Washington. Her passion for health equity sparked her initial interest in the Tesfa Program where she assisted in various back-end projects. She hopes to translate her experiences and skills gained from being a part of the Tesfa team to a career in healthcare.

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Hewan Kifle

I am a Public Health-Global Health graduate from the University of Washington. I have a well-rounded course load in many emerging public health issues and interests. My work history includes extensive experience in project management, administration, and research. As someone who grew up as part of a marginalized community, it is important for me to give back to vulnerable communities and families that lack the resources and opportunities to succeed. Volunteer work has been a way for me to give back and learn more about the unique needs and issues a community faces. Such personal and professional experiences bring a new perspective to every role I take.

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Graphic Design

Nardos Tamirat

Nardos Tamirat Shitta is a graduate architect with experience in various fields of design from photography and event curation to architectural and graphic design. She is currently pursuing her Masters’ in Architecture, Metropolitan Design; while working as a research assistant at the Minnesota Design Center. Nardos enjoys meeting new people and learning from a diverse range of professions, and believes creativity is informed by experience.

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Photographer

Alex Montalvo

Alex Montalvo is a Seattle-based videographer, photographer, and communications strategist. Originally an environmental biologist and educator working in conservation, he brings a unique perspective of grassroots and community organizing to his visual story development. Previous clients include Save the Children, Avvo, AIGA, King County Public Health, the EPA, the University of Washington, Kids4Peace, Shoulder to Shoulder, and many others. His work can be found at www.alexmontalvo.com

Translation

Emmebet Molla

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TESFA Team Support

Gabriel Alemayehu
Lauren Witty
Nathnael Seifu Gebremariam
Wengel Belgu

And our amazing community outreach and survey coordinators

Yemisrach Gudeta
Abadir Haji

Partners

Fiscal Sponsor

Southeast Seattle Education Coalition (SESEC)

Southeast Seattle Education Coalition (SESEC) is a coalition of Community Based Organizations schools, educators, community leaders, parents and caregivers, and concerned SE Seattle residents working to improve education for all children, especially those in SE Seattle and those farthest away from educational justice.

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Funder

Communities of Opportunity (COO)

Communities of Opportunity (COO) is a cross-sector, collaborative initiative founded by King County and Seattle Foundation in 2014. With underlying commitments to racial equity and social justice, COO is driven by community-led strategies and solutions through community partnerships, systems and policy change, and shared learning. King County’s Best Starts for Kids (BSK) levy and Seattle Foundation’s Center for Community Partnerships funds COO.

SCOPE logo
Research Partner

UW SCOPE

SCOPE is a partnership between the University of Washington, The University of Gondar, and faith-based institutions to unite medical and faith communities to improve health for the most vulnerable through innovative partnership, leadership development, and measured impact.

Fellow 2021

Ashenafi S. Cherkos

Ashenafi S Cherkos is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington. He is a former assistant professor of public health at Mekelle University, Ethiopia, where he taught epidemiology, biostatistics, and research methodology for undergraduate and graduate students. His main research interests involve maternal and child health, such as infectious diseases, nutritional disorders, growth and development, and health care utilization practices. His dissertation is on the effects of HIV and tuberculosis exposure and treatments on children's growth and development in developing countries. He earned an MPH from Mekelle University, Ethiopia, and an MPH/Epidemiology in maternal and child health at the University of Washington. Ashenafi will support SCOPE’s work with the Tesfa Program to better understand the Ethiopian Community’s experiences with COVID-19 in King County during the pandemic. He will provide support for survey development and qualitative and quantitative data analysis for the program during his fellowship.

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Board of Trustees

Adino Tesfahun

Adino Tesfahun was born in Debark, Ethiopia, and received his BS and MPH degrees in Public Health from the University of Gondar. He then worked in rural health centers where he was engaged in antenatal and delivery care, Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT), postnatal care, and HIV care coordination. He has worked at the University of Gondar Hospital as a Health Officer in the inpatient and outpatient departments, and was previously the coordinator and supervisor of their MDR TB program. Before moving to Seattle, Adino was faculty in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Gondar where he taught and mentored undergraduate and graduate students and participated in several research projects. He has sound research and project management experience in the area of infectious diseases, nutrition, and maternal and child health. Adino was a former fellow and project manager of SCOPE/FLAME project. He is now pursuing a PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Washington, Seattle.

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Fellow 2020

Laura Blasi

Laura is a dietetic intern and second-year MPH student in the Nutritional Sciences department at the University of Washington. She previously attended Franklin & Marshall college where she received a BA in Anthropology. Laura has worked in human resources, corporate philanthropy, and in non-profit program management. As a nutrition educator, she organized and implemented nutrition education programs in a variety of settings throughout New York City. Laura has also worked with women and children in international settings. In Zambia, she worked as a teaching assistant at a primary school in Zambia and most recently spent time in Kenya developing a training on breastfeeding promotion for health care providers. From her prior experiences, Laura knows the importance of community driven interventions and the meaningful impact they can have. She is health excited to learn from and partner with the SCOPE team to help improve maternal and child health outcomes.

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Managing Director, Global WACh & SCOPE

Katherine Pfizenmaier

Kate Rankin is the Managing Director of the Global Center for Integrated Health of Women, Adolescents, and Children (Global WACh) and Strengthening Care Opportunities through Partnership in Ethiopia (SCOPE). Kate joined the Department of Global Health in 2014 after completing her Masters of Public Administration from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington. Prior to joining the Department, Kate served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Zharkent, Kazakhstan, a small town along the silk road. During her time as an education volunteer she became passionate about elevating the status of women and girls’ health and education. Kate manages the Global WACh Certificate and SCOPE fellowship programs and greatly enjoys working with students, connecting people, designing efficient research administration systems, and securing resources to support her mission driven programs.

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Audiotocracy is a women-led and women-owned podcasting business. Audiotocracy CEO and Founder, Shannon Perry, and Creative Director/Producer/Editor, Rachel Miller-Howard, worked with the Tesfa Program to produce our limited podcast series, 13 Months of Sunshine.

Website by UMEDA.MEDIA

Supporters

Special Acknowledgement

To our

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TESFA Program Participants!

Tesfa Program Hosts and Special Guests

13 Months of Sunshine Interviewees

Ethiopian Community Subject Matter Experts

  • Assaye Abunie, Multimedia Resources and Training Institute
  • Michael Neguse, East African Senior Meals Program
  • Sophia Benaflew, Ethiopian Community in Seattle (ECS)

Community Feedback & Support

  • American Red Cross (King County)
  • Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium, Office of Community Outreach & Engagement
  • GRAT Program
  • Jubilee Women’s Center
  • Lake Washington Technical College
  • Mary's Place
  • Neighborcare Health
  • Seattle Children's Hospital
  • Victim Support Services
  • Washington Healthcare Access Alliance (Seattle/King County Clinic)
  • West Seattle Food Bank
  • WithinReach
  • YMCA of Greater Seattle