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Introducing Pathwaves Placement Site: Open Doors for Multicultural Families

May 14, 2025 lisho

Pathwaves’ partnership with Open Doors for Multicultural Families (ODMF) demonstrates the significance of trusting relationships within the early childhood policy sector in Washington state. Moses Perez, Former Director of Advocacy & Civic Engagement and placement site supervisor at ODMF, explains that what drew their organization to the program was his professional connection to our Co-Executive Director, Nubia López. “It was my relationship with Nubia that made me trust that our Fellow would be well cared for, supported, and that it would be worth it to them and our organization.” Moses shares, “when Nubia reached out to me about participating in the Second Cohort, we were still in the interview process with Emani [Donaldson, Pathwaves Fellow at ODMF]. One of the first conversations I had with Emani after she was hired was about this Fellowship. Emani is a really special person, and we want to invest in her so she doesn’t get burned out.” Emani joined Pathwaves’ Second Cohort as a self-placed Fellow, a capacity-building opportunity for organizations to select an existing employee to participate in the Fellowship program. 

Emani smiles in front of a foggy background. She has long braided hair, glasses, and a patterned teal blazer
Photo by Michael B. Maine

For Emani, the Fellowship was an exciting opportunity to continue her education in a way that felt appropriate for this moment in her career. “The Fellowship allows me to learn in a way that invests directly in my career, with professional development tailored to my specific needs. I was also excited to have a community of women and mothers to grow alongside.” Learning in community creates opportunities for collaboration that the sector needs. Emani explains, “Building collective power and solidarity amongst BIPOC leaders is essential. I recently asked Senator Hasegawa how we can work in collaboration when we have competing priorities, and he shared that we must identify our common values and our common needs and empower people to make connections and build solutions together. Every community-based organization has a central mission and laser focus, but being open to other aspects of needs and challenges in the greater community leads to more effective organizing.”

Pathwaves’ focus on policy advocacy particularly appealed to Emani as a next step in her career. “I participated in advocacy before, but hadn’t done a deep dive into public policy. Thinking about my career path, early childhood policy has been close to my heart for a long time and is an area of interest for me.” The approach that Pathwaves’ professional development curriculum took surprised Emani, however. “During the first learning module we focused a lot on storytelling and anti-racist leadership. We learned to identify key players within the sector, how to have an impact on policymaking spaces, and build confidence that we are supposed to be here and we know what we are doing. I expected that we would spend more time learning the nitty gritty details of the legislative process. But this approach gave me tools I didn’t know I needed to participate in policy advocacy. I have applied these lessons to my management style and work with my team at ODMF to bolster our collective skills and knowledge. It’s also helped me mobilize our community advocates in different ways, especially during advocacy days in Olympia.” 

Representation in Olympia is a top priority for ODMF, and for Moses in particular. “There are so many opportunities to get involved in our political system, and so many barriers to leveraging your voice and power as a leader of color. My vision is that community advocates, mothers, and women of color with experience working in early childhood, can be involved in the processes impacting policy.” As an organization, ODMF is committed to having a meaningful presence at the capitol. Emani explains, “We have folks in power chairs, self-advocates on the autism spectrum, community members with other physical disabilities and from all different ethnic backgrounds.” Moses continues, “After many years of growing into our power, we now sit in the front of the room so legislators can see us. We show up with the confidence that this is our space and we belong, and power starts to shift. That empowerment comes with experience, support, and the confidence that legislators are here to work for us and our community’s needs.” 

The future looks bright for ODMF. Expansion to other parts of the state is also on Moses’ mind, “In the last 5 years, special people have helped operationalize our mission and vision and grow our infrastructure so that we can impact more people. Now it’s time to do that in rural communities. We need to train advocates across the state to share their stories.” Funding for the Multicultural Village living complex for families of color, with 20% of units dedicated to community members with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (IDD), was included in the capitol budget and has already passed in the Washington state senate. Emani reflects, “It isn’t just a win for us, but also a win for anyone fighting for early learning and housing justice. Setting a precedent like this demonstrates what is possible.” As an organization, ODMF is also going through a process to make their work more integrated. Moses describes how partnership with Pathwaves aligns with this process, “Our pillars of opportunity and advocacy directly tie in with our work with Pathwaves and investing back in our community and building capacity at ODMF. Emani’s policy advocacy work with Pathwaves is the perfect example of this value in action.” 

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