Mission: To advocate on behalf of Somali Bantu and other similarly-disadvantaged refugees for access to professional and educational resources so that families can make a successful cultural, economic, and social transition to life in the United States, and, to provide services to assist families in becoming economically stable, civically engaged members of our new community of Tucson, Arizona.

Description: The Somali Bantu refugees began arriving in Tucson in May 2003, as part of a larger resettlement program sponsored by the United States Department of State and administered through the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement. A total of approximately 12,000 Somali Bantus were resettled across the United States, and as of May 2007, approximately 500 live in Tucson. This refugee group fled their homeland in Somalia beginning in 1991, when warlords began to take over the country, and the security of citizens could no longer be assured. these refugees arrived at Kenyan refugee camps, where they resided until their resettlement in the US starting in 2003.

Before the Somali state disintegrated, Somali Bantus practiced farming in the most fertile part of Somalia, whereas the majority of Somali people were nomadic herders. Most Somali Bantu refugee adults have not received formal education, and two of their native languages - Mai Mai and KiSegua - are not written languages. Most Somali Bantus came to the US without English language skills, literacy, or urban wage-labor experience.

The Somali Bantu Association of Tucson, AZ was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in Arizona on December 23, 2004 following a series of community organizing meetings that fall. It is a refugee community self-help organization, as defined by the US Office of Refugee Resettlement. Its Board of Directors was elected by Somali Bantu refugees in Tucson, thus meeting the definitional requirement that 51% of Board members must be refugees from the target community.

SBATA offers many services including ESL classes, computer literacy classes, citizenship assistance, cultural and community outreach, and organizational development to refugee communities.