Our 2020 Champion

Parent Trust’s 2020 Children’s Champion – Val Thomas-Matson

Parent Trust for Washington Children is honored to announce that Val Thomas-Matson is the 2020 Recipient of the Parent Trust Laura Smith Brown Children’s Champion Award.

Val is a visionary – who is helping us all move forward in these difficult times.

“Val is the perfect Children’s Champion for this year,” says Parent Trust Executive Director, Linda McDaniels. “She is a powerful voice for Black lives matter – and for racial equity. She is an early learning pioneer. Val gives us hope.”

Val is the founder and Executive Producer of an educational series called Look, Listen and Learn TV. Created for children ages 3 – 6, Look, Listen and Learn focuses on improving school readiness for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) children.


Join us for our Virtual Fundraiser on October 15th, from 12 PM to 1 PM PST. You’ll hear directly from Val and learn more about everything Parent Trust does to support families. Learn more about our event >>


As a child, Val loved Mr. Rogers and Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop. But she always noticed that the children she saw on TV did not look like her. That feeling of being shut out fueled her passion to unlock the world of early learning – the science, the brain development research that shapes how we help young children reach developmental milestones and achieve school readiness for children of color.

As a child, Val says she never felt like she fit the picture of school success. When she achieved a perfect grade point her senior year in college at Western Washington University, she remembers thinking, “What if I could have been doing this all along this all along?”

That question generated more questions: What if we eliminated the racial inequities that hold kids of color back before they even start school? How would that change their lives and their communities? How would it change the world?

Look, Listen and Learn TV is the culmination of all the years Val has spent bringing the issue of racial equity to the forefront of local and national discussions of early learning– while pursuing a successful career as a broadcaster, community organizer and social justice advocate.

Just like Parent Trust, Look, Listen and Learn strives to help families today – even as we all grapple with the pandemic and our uncertain future.

“One of the many things that Parent Trust and Look, Listen and Learn TV have in common,” says Val, “is our commitment to providing support and hope to families raising the next generations of global leaders, healers, and innovators.”

Learn more about Look Listen and Learn TV on their website: https://www.looklistenandlearn.org/ >>

Or visit their YouTube channel and watch right now: https://www.youtube.com/looklistenlearn>>

Please Register >> for our Virtual Fundraiser or Donate today >>and help us reach our 25,000-fundraising goal.

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