Who We Are?
VISION
We envision the Ethiopian and Eritrean individuals with a developmental disability and their families including caregivers being empowered to thrive and reach their full potential, one person at a time. Through our programs and training, we would like to see a strong community of thriving, healthy, resilient, and empowered individuals with Developmental disabilities and parents. Everyone on our Board of Directors has special needs family members. We are proactive disability allies that believe each one of us is an Ambassador for the Acceptance of All Abilities in our home, in our family, in our community, and the world.
Board Members
Azeb Ataro Adere holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education with additional courses in Special Education, Family and Child Development, and Early Childhood Development from the University of Maryland College Park. She has expertise in the fields of autism and Applied Behavior Analysis. Azeb Adere has worked with children with special needs for over 15 years in both Maryland and Virginia.She has enjoyed working with this population of children both in the classroom and home setting with a high degree of success. After helping many parents with their children’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals, related services, and placements, she felt she could make a bigger difference in the education of this special group of children by becoming an Educational Consultant. She is dedicated to giving a voice for special needs children so they have access and opportunity to quality education and positive life experiences.
Azeb Ataro is a founding member of the board and the president for the Ethiopian Eritrean Special Needs community, an organization to share information, provide support to one another, educate, and guide families raising children with special needs so they can become effective advocates for their children. She has a strong personal and professional interest in serving people on the autism spectrum and their families.
Alpha Yirga Tessema is married and a mother of two children. Alpha lives in Maryland and currently working as a Registered nurse in the DC area. One of her children has autism. Alpha started to be autism warrior mom 5 years ago. She is one of the founders and a board member of Ethiopian Eritrean Special Needs Community.
Hiwot Serekeberhan is married and a Mother of two children, one of whom has Autism. She lives in Maryland and is an Architect, who works as a Project Manager for School construction in Prince George’s County Public Schools. Her journey as an Autism warrior Mom started 14 years ago.
Azeb Araya is a Special Education teacher with 24+ years of experience.
She graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science degree in Special Education. She began her career in DC public schools where she taught for six years and has been teaching in the Montgomery County Public School System for the past 18 years. Azeb works with students diagnosed with a variety of disabilities, including Autism, ADHD, Learning and Emotional disabilities.
Azeb is also a Board Member of EESNC (Ethiopian Eritrean Special Need Community). As a member of the organization, Azeb has the opportunity to share resources and information with parents and other family members of the Ethiopian-Eritrean community.
Selam Hagos – Selam is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), works with people who have developmental disabilities. She was trained as an engineer and earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering and an M.S. in Water Pollution Control in the UK prior to becoming a BCBA in 2015. Her goal at the time was to return to Africa and advance socioeconomic development by enhancing access to water and sanitation. She worked as a Civil/Environmental engineer for 10 years supporting U.S Marine Corps and Flood Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Selam is a mother of two boys, ages 25 and 23. Her younger son was diagnosed with autism when he was just two years old. Selam attended support groups in an effort to better understand how she might raise and educate her son. She was also motivated by knowledgeable/active parents. By the time her son turned 9 years old, Selam had come to the conclusion that she was her son’s best teacher and had resigned her job as an engineer to pursue a profession in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). She graduated from an ABA graduate certificate program, received practical experience working with young children who have developmental disabilities, and earned her BCBA certification and state license in Virginia. Selam has always wanted to help and support her community. For the past five years, Selam has been offering training and assistance to the Ethiopian and Eritrean communities in America. She joined the board of the Ethiopian Eritrean Special Needs Community (EESNC) organization in an effort to increase her involvement. In addition, Selam is a Master Trainer in the parenting program Caregivers Skill Training for Families of Children with Developmental Delays or Disabilities (CST), created by the World Health Organization (WHO) and international collaborators.
Yodit Reinhold – Yodit is a board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) and licensed behavior analyst (LBA) to practice in the state of Virginia in the USA, helping children with developmental disabilities achieve their potential and training caregivers to help their children through the understanding of human behavior. Yodit earned her B.A in sociology with childhood and youth concentration and her master’s degree in special education in conjunction with Applied Behavior Analyst post-graduate certification from George Mason University. Yodit has been involved in supporting and training parents of children with special needs through Ethiopian and Eritrean special needs community organizations (EESNC) and has been serving as a board member.