September 29th, 2024

For Immediate Release:                                                                               

Adoption Vanguard Award to be presented to Transracial Adoption thought leader Rhonda M. Roorda during National Adoption Awareness Month
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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.