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For Immediate Release:
Adoption Vanguard Award to be presented to Transracial Adoption thought leader Rhonda M. Roorda during National Adoption Awareness Month Austin, TX - Adoption Knowledge Affiliates (AKA) is honored to announce Rhonda M. Roorda as the recipient of our Adoption Vanguard Award for 2024. Rhonda M. Roorda, MA is an Award-Winning Author, Consultant, and Thought Leader on Transracial Adoption. Rhonda was adopted out of the New York foster care system at the age of two and into a white American family with a Dutch heritage. Rhonda has dedicated her life’s work to advocating for children and families and collaborating to create nuanced and authentic mirrors for Transracial adoptees and adoptive families. Rhonda’s latest book, In Their Voices: Black Americans on Transracial Adoption was named by Choice Magazine as a 2016 Outstanding Academic Title. Rhonda is the recipient of the 2010 Judge John P. Steketee Adoption Hero Award from the Adoptive Family Support Network (MI). Rhonda was awarded the 2017 Friend of Children and Youth Award from the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC). At the Adopt America Network Gala in Toledo, Ohio, Rhonda was bestowed the 2022 Richard K. Ransom Award for her significant contributions to Children and Families and for her work with the Emmy Award-Winning NBC TV Show This Is Us. The award will be presented on Saturday November 9, 2024 at 9:45am at AKA’s “Narratives in the Adoption Universe” virtual conference, during National Adoption Awareness Month. The virtual event delivers two full days of content with two powerful conference keynotes, Jae Ran Kim, Ph.D., MSW, and Astrid Castro.. Surrounding the two keynotes are dynamic, presentations and workshops from local, state and national professionals, advocates, experts, and creatives - all connected to adoption and foster care. This event offers professionals CEU earning opportunities. The target audience for the conference is the adoption and foster care community, adjacent communities of donor conceived individuals and people with DNA discoveries, therapeutic practitioners, social work professionals, and reform advocates. Attendees receive knowledge, skills, support, and networking opportunities. About Adoption Knowledge Affiliates Adoption Knowledge Affiliates (AKA) is a unique non-profit organization, serving Central Texas since 1992. AKA provides support and education to adopted people, birth / first families, prospective and current adoptive and foster parents, and adoption professionals. We offer peer support, search assistance, educational programs, resources, and an annual conference with top-tier adoption professionals. In 2020, we expanded our services to include those with unexpected commercial DNA results. Whether it be due to adoption, donor conception, or other circumstance, we are ready to provide the same level of support as we have for nearly thirty years.
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Adoption Vanguard Award Goes to Podcast Producer, Host, and Author Angela Tucker During National Adoption Awareness Month
Austin, TX - Adoption Knowledge Affiliates (AKA) is honored to announce Angela Tucker as the recipient of our Adoption Vanguard Award for 2023. Angela Tucker is a Black woman adopted from foster care to white parents. She is the author of YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL: Stories of Race Identity, and Transracial Adoption, the Founder of the Adoptee Mentoring Society, the subject of Closure, a documentary that chronicles her search for her biological parents, and has over 15 years of experience working within adoption and foster care agencies. Her mission to center adoptees is evident in her podcast, The Adoptee Next Door, the five short films that she has produced and her work consulting with media outlets like NBC’s This Is Us. The award will be presented on Saturday November 4, 2023, 9:00 am at AKA’s “Honoring the Past, Treasuring the Present, Shaping the Future” virtual conference, during National Adoption Awareness Month. The virtual event delivers two full days of content with two powerful conference keynotes, Susan Ito and Andie Coston. Surrounding the two keynotes are dynamic, afternoon presentations and workshops from local, state and national professionals, advocates, experts, and creatives - all connected to adoption and foster care. Evening programming includes a screening and Q&A with Jenni Alpert (aka Cami). This event offers professionals CEU earning opportunities. The target audience for the conference is the adoption and foster care community, adjacent communities of donor conceived individuals and people with DNA discoveries, therapeutic practitioners, social work professionals, and reform advocates. Attendees receive knowledge, skills, support, and networking opportunities. About Adoption Knowledge Affiliates Adoption Knowledge Affiliates (AKA) is a unique non-profit organization, serving Central Texas since 1992. AKA provides support and education to adopted people, birth / first families, prospective and current adoptive and foster parents, and adoption professionals. We offer peer support, search assistance, educational programs, resources, and an annual conference with top-tier adoption professionals. In 2020, we expanded our services to include those with unexpected commercial DNA results. Whether it be due to adoption, donor conception, or other circumstance, we are ready to provide the same level of support as we have for nearly thirty years We are proud to share that the North American Council on Adoptable Children awarded AKA's President of the Board, April Dinwoodie, "Advocate of the Year".
For Immediate Release: October 13, 2022
Adoption Vanguard Award Goes to Podcast Producer and Host, Damon L. Davis During National Adoption Awareness Month Austin, TX - Adoption Knowledge Affiliates (AKA) is honored to announce Damon L. Davis as the recipient of our Adoption Vanguard Award for 2022. Damon is an adoptee who, through his podcast Who Am I Really? helps adopted people explore their own feelings about their adoption, accept their desire to understand their own personal history, and decide whether reunification with biological relatives is right for them. In addition, the podcast aims to help non-adopted people understand some of what is in the minds of their friends, family members, or others who are adopted. Damon developed his podcast in 2017 after he reunited with his biological family and it has been a meaningful endeavor for both Damon and his thousands of listeners in the adoption community and far beyond. The award will be presented on November 4, 2022, 9:00 am at AKA’s “Pebbles to Pearls: 30 years of connection, education, & support” virtual conference, during National Adoption Awareness Month. The virtual event delivers two full days of content with three powerful conference keynotes, Patricia Martinez Dorner, Melissa Guida-Richards, and Lorraine Dusky. Surrounding the three keynotes are dynamic, afternoon presentations and workshops from local, state and national professionals, advocates, experts, and creatives - all connected to adoption and foster care. Evening programming includes a screening and Q&A with director Rebecca Sansome. This event offers professionals CEU earning opportunities. The target audience for the conference is the adoption and foster care community, adjacent communities of donor conceived individuals and people with DNA discoveries, therapeutic practitioners, social work professionals, and reform advocates. Attendees receive knowledge, skills, support, and networking opportunities. ### About Adoption Knowledge Affiliates Adoption Knowledge Affiliates (AKA) is a unique non-profit organization, serving Central Texas since 1992. AKA provides support and education to adopted people, birth / first families, prospective and current adoptive and foster parents, and adoption professionals. We offer peer support, search assistance, educational programs, resources, and an annual conference with top-tier adoption professionals. In 2020, we expanded our services to include those with unexpected commercial DNA results. Whether it be due to adoption, donor conception, or other circumstance, we are ready to provide the same level of support as we have for nearly thirty years. More about AKA's 2022 AVA winner...  Damon Davis is the host of the "Who Am I Really?" podcast (www.whoamireallypodcast.com) where adopted people share their stories of adoption and their attempt to find their birth families. He has interviewed nearly 200 adoptees from an array of life experiences from awful adoptions and amazing reunions to inspiring adoptions and unfortunate reunions.
In his autobiography, "Who Am I Really? - An Adoptee Memoir", Damon shares his journey to becoming an adoptive parent and his emotions over the birth of his son, Seth. He opens up about the heartbreak of grappling with his adoptive mother's mental illness while balancing the joy of locating his birth mother working nearby. His journey took a twist when he located his biological father via DNA testing.  For Immediate Release:
10/21/21
Austin, TX - Adoption Knowledge Affiliates (AKA) is honored to announce Dawn Scott as the recipient of our Adoption Vanguard Award for 2021.  For Immediate Release:
October 10, 2021
 Adoption Knowledge Affiliates PO Box 4082 Austin, TX 78765 March 5, 2021 To the Honorable Members of the Texas Legislature: |
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