This week, we are proud to feature Allison Jesus, who is a Program Assistant with Imagine.

Meet Allison

She grew up in Western Washington, but her roots as a Pacific Islander have shaped the way Allison Jesus views her community. She decided to focus on child care at an early age and has now found a home at the Imagine Institute.

“I was looking for a new job working with youth. So, I stumbled across Imagine and fell in love with their whole mission of expanding child care.”

ROOTS IN WASHINGTON

Allison grew up north of King County, and says her family moved around a lot. She didn’t mind it so much since she loves living in the area. After High School, she attended Central Washington University where she studied cultural anthropology. This suited Allison well, as she learned more about people, and expanded her knowledge of families and culture.

“My first job after college was working at a non-profit that focused on expanding post-secondary options to underserved youth. That was something that struck a chord with me, helping kids achieve their dreams through a traditional or nontraditional paths.”

Soon after, Allison took a job at the Seattle Children’s Museum. While there she took charge of programs aimed at helping expand educational content and create new ideas for activities. In early 2022, Allison took on a new role with Imagine and quickly became a Program Assistant with Imagine U.

“We connect people who want to become a licensed childcare providers and walk them through the whole process. We help people understand the system because it can be really confusing to go through the whole process alone.”

PACIFIC ISLAND HERITAGE

This May, we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, something that Allison is proud of since her father is a native of Guam in the Western Pacific. People often want to know more about her cultural background, and she is always happy to “celebrate and educate.”

“I know people are always genuinely interested in the culture, and people don’t know a lot about the indigenous population of Guam, so they are always supportive in learning.”

She says Imagine has a smaller Pacific Islander population of employees and providers, but she loves the community. Allison says she Imagine has always felt like and inclusive place.

“It’s great working in an environment where people genuinely want to know more, and have it be a place of learning where people are asking questions. It’s great to see a place that has an open environment.”

Allison says she feels like Imagine is a great fit for her, and she is excited about the recent programs being added, and the future of the organization.

“There is a lot of growth happening within Imagine U, within the program and with the organization itself, and I’m really excited to see where these changes will take us.”

Thank you, Allison and welcome to the Imagine family!