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About TVBC
Built from lived
experience, driven by evidence
The Voices Behind Changes is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving North Texas and beyond. Founded by Salimatou Diallo, our work is built on the conviction that those most affected by systems are the best equipped to transform them.
We are not a temporary initiative or a new idea. We are a formalized infrastructure designed to turn community-led advocacy into measurable, systemic solutions. By bridging the gap between institutions and the communities they serve, TVBC translates raw human experience into structured, data-backed frameworks that help organizations make better, more inclusive decisions.
The Founding Story
From navigating systems
to changing them
Before TVBC was a formalized nonprofit, it was a set of hard-earned skills born from necessity. When Salimatou arrived in the United States in 2018, she found herself navigating complex medical, educational, and civic systems not designed with her in mind, systems that frequently assumed a fluency in bureaucratic processes and institutional language that takes years to acquire.
The stakes became even higher when she began navigating these systems on behalf of her son, who was diagnosed with sickle cell disease. Having searched for medical stability across West Africa before settling in Texas, Salimatou experienced firsthand the steep barriers to essential community resources.
Every one of those obstacles deepened a conviction that would eventually become the operational foundation of this organization: the people closest to a problem carry the most valuable knowledge about how to solve it.
From personal witness to
public purpose
Salimatou's journey did not stop at personal navigation. Over the last eight years, she has channeled her lived experience into academic rigor and professional leadership within the nonprofit sector, serving underrepresented communities at the Puerto Rican Family Institute, then refugee families at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) Dallas and driving youth empowerment at local foundations.
Today, TVBC exists to scale that expertise. We take the lessons learned from individual survival and turn them into institutional programs, like our Community Voices Initiative, ensuring that local councils, healthcare providers, and nonprofit organizations no longer leave underrepresented community voices on the margins.