Adoption Knowledge Affiliates Conference Page

Highlight your organization by sponsoring AKA's 2010 Conference

By co-sponsoring at the $550 level, your organization will be an integral part of our conference with an opportunity to have:

A booth showcasing your organization at the two-day conference.
A 1/6 page advertisement in the conference program.
Two complimentary conference registrations for your staff or board members.
One complimentary yearly AKA agency membership (includes 4 members from your agency).
Recognition on our website.
A listing in over 4,000 mailed brochures.
Flyers available for distribution to your clients and staff.

By sponsoring at the $1,000 level, your organization will include all of the benefits above plus:

A half page advertisement in the conference program.
Your logo on AKA's web site.
An article highlighting your organization in our newsletter.

Exhibit at the 2010 Conference
Exhibit booth space is $125 and includes both days.

Advertise in the Conference Program

Full page ad @ $300
1/2 page ad @ $188
1/6 page ad @ $75
Business card ad @ $38

To participate as a sponsor, exhibitor or advertiser, please send this completed form (aka@adoptionknowledge.org, fax: 512-394-0720). Mail payment made payable to Adoption Knowledge Affiliates to: Adoption Knowledge Affiliates, PO Box 4082, Austin, TX 78765

Keynote Speaker Saturday, November 12th
Ruth G. McRoy, Ph.D. In September 2009, Ruth G. McRoy became the first holder of the Donahue and DiFelice Endowed Professorship at Boston College Graduate School of Social Work. From 2005-2009, she served as a Visiting Research Professor and Consultant at Boston College. McRoy is also a Research Professor and Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professor Emerita at the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work.

During her 25 years on the UT Social Work faculty, McRoy served for 12 years, as the Director of the Center for Social Work Research, Director of the Diversity Institute and in 2002, became the Associate Dean for Research. In 1999, McRoy was selected for membership in the University of Texas Academy of Distinguished Teaching Professors.

A practitioner, academician, researcher, trainer and lecturer in the field for over 30 years, her work has focused on such topics as open adoptions, kinship care, adoptive family recruitment, minority recruitment, racial identity development, transracial adoptions, family preservation, adolescent pregnancy, African American families, family violence, disproportionality in child welfare, older child adoptions, and post-adoption services. As part of the federally funded Collaboration to AdoptUsKids project, McRoy and her research team at the University of Texas at Austin, just completed two nationwide studies on barriers to adoption and factors associated with successful special needs adoptions. McRoy is currently leading a research team which is conducting a five year (2007-2012) evaluation of the Collaboration to AdoptUsKids. She is President of the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) Board and is a Senior Research Fellow and a member of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute Board.

McRoy has authored or co-authored numerous articles and eight books, including: Transracial and Inracial Adoptees: The Adolescent Years (with L. Zurcher), Special Needs Adoptions: Practice Issues, Openness in Adoption: Family Connections (with H. Grotevant), Intersecting Child Welfare, Substance Abuse and Family Violence: Culturally Competent Approaches (with R. Fong, and C. Ortiz-Hendricks) and numerous articles and book chapters on child welfare issues. Her recent honors include the 2004 Flynn Prize for Social Work Research from the University of Southern California , the 2005 George Silcott Lifetime Achievement Award from the Black Administrators in Child Welfare, the 2006 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) and the 2006-2007 University of Texas at Austin Graduate School’s Outstanding Alumna Award.

Keynote Speaker Saturday, November 13th
Patricia Martinez Dorner, MA, LPC, LMFT has been a proponent of adoption reform for many years. In the early 80’s, she directed one of the first programs in the country acknowledging that adoption is a lifelong process & honoring the needs of all participants. She is a frequent conference keynote speaker and provides training to professional groups involved with adoption.

She is the author of How to Open an Adoption: a guide for parents and birthparents of minors; ADOPTION SEARCH: An Ethical Guide for Professionals; Talking to Your Child About Adoption; ADOPCION: hablando con tu hijo (Spanish translation); and co-author of CHILDREN OF OPEN ADOPTION.

Patricia has an adoption and foster care focused practice which includes counseling, search assistance, preparation and support, & the opening of adoptions involving minors. In addition to her pioneering work in the adoption arena, she has been a passionate advocate for children in foster care, locating and mediating contact with their original families.

She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from McGill University in Montreal & her Master’s degree in Counseling from San Francisco State University. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor & a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Texas. In 1999, she was awarded the Baran Pannor Award for Outstanding Contributions in Open Adoption. In 2003, she was featured as an adoption expert on the Today Show.

In addition to her professional association with adoption, she experiences adoption on the home front as the adoptive mom of two daughters, ages 29 & 31.