Conference Keynotes & Speakers
Keynotes for our 2025 conference:
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April Dinwoodie
Relinquished into foster care at birth and adopted by the age of two, April Dinwoodie grew up navigating life as a Black/biracial woman in predominantly white spaces. Her personal journey—shaped by questions of identity, belonging, and family—has fueled her lifelong commitment to fostering empathy, inclusion, and understanding. In a world demanding truth and transformation, she confronts hard realities head-on, igniting urgent conversations that push us to build a more just, connected, and humane society. |
As the host of two podcasts, "Born in June, Raised in April: What Adoption Can Teach the World!" and "Calendar Conversations: A Guide for Adoptive Parents," April promotes dialogue about identity, family, and cultural differences. A former Chief Executive of the Donaldson Adoption Institute (DAI), she has led national adoption reform initiatives and founded AdoptMent, a mentoring program for adopted and foster youth.
Currently, April serves as Executive Director of Transracial Journeys, Communications Consultant for The Quality Improvement Center on Engaging Children and Youth and DEIB leader at Steven Madden, LTD. She also facilitates adoption support groups and serves on advisory boards.
April speaks nationally and internationally, including engagements with the UPMC Hospital System and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption/Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Summit.
Learn more at Aprildinwoodie.com.
photo credit: Jeff Forney/Innocent People Project
Currently, April serves as Executive Director of Transracial Journeys, Communications Consultant for The Quality Improvement Center on Engaging Children and Youth and DEIB leader at Steven Madden, LTD. She also facilitates adoption support groups and serves on advisory boards.
April speaks nationally and internationally, including engagements with the UPMC Hospital System and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption/Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Summit.
Learn more at Aprildinwoodie.com.
photo credit: Jeff Forney/Innocent People Project
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Patrick Armstrong, (he/him)
He is a storyteller and creative entrepreneur, which is his way of saying that he likes to talk a lot. He is the host and producer of two award-winning podcasts: Conversation Piece, which explores the untold stories of Indianapolis and its people, and The Janchi Show (pronounced: JohnChee), which amplifies and celebrates the Asian adoptee experience. Through conversation-based media and storytelling in all forms, Patrick works to provide new perspectives on the world – and people – around us and empower both individuals and organizations to meet difference, not with fear and judgement, but with curiosity and affirmation. |
Friday's Speakers
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Elizabeth Barbour (she/her) is an adoptee and adoptive mom with 26 years of reunion experience. A coach, healer and author of two books, she’s currently writing her third about adoption reunions. Elizabeth helps people find grace and grounding amidst the grief and complexity of the reunion process through self-care, storytelling, and ritual.
Navigating the Complexities of Adoption Reunion with GRACE: Establishing Solid Ground in Your Relationships
Adoption reunion is a deeply emotional and often confusing journey for everyone involved—adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, and professionals who support them. This workshop offers a safe, supportive space to explore the challenges and possibilities of reconnection using the GRACE Method—a heart-centered, five-step model for cultivating healing and wholeness in reunion. Through experiential activities and guided reflection, participants will explore themes of identity, communication, boundaries, and growth. The goal of the session is to empower attendees with skills to build solid, loving relationships and move through reunion with greater confidence, clarity, and compassion. |
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Dawn J. Post, Esq., is a child advocate and civil rights attorney who founded Themis Youth Law & Advocacy to protect adoptees and youth failed by child welfare systems. She has decades of experience fighting for justice, challenging broken adoptions, and ensuring every young person’s rights, voice, and dignity are upheld.
Adoption Promises Broken: Legal and Policy Failures Impacting Abandoned Adoptees. This presentation examines the often-overlooked consequences of broken adoptions—domestic and intercountry—when adoptive families relinquish, abandon, or institutionalize children. Drawing on legal casework, policy, data, and lived experience, it explores how current systems fail to protect adoptees post-placement, leaving them legally invisible and unprotected. Advocacy strategies and reform recommendations will be shared.
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Dr. Katherin Garland (she/her) is a same-race, domestic adoptee. She is also an associate professor of education, speaker, and award-winning essayist and blogger based in Florida. Her adoption story, subsequent trauma, and self-healing are woven into her memoir, In Search of a Salve: Memoir of a Sex Addict.
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Tarcia Smith is the host of the Adoption Journey Podcast and co-founder of Black Adoptees Meetup. On the podcast, guests share their truth, offering an alternative perspective to mainstream adoption narratives and creating a therapeutic environment for listeners and speakers. The Adoption Journey Podcast has helped thousands of people worldwide to better navigate the complex issues of adoption.
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Kevin Hodge-Niblack Barnett is a retired Army veteran and motivational speaker for adopted people and those who have navigated adoption systems. He is the author of two books: Living in My Shadows: Dreams Do Come True and Shadows of Emotion: Life After the Dream, which outline his experiences as an adoptee and person who lived in foster care.
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Same, Same, But Different: Understanding the Black Adoptee Experience and the Need for Community
Between 2021-2023, approximately 17% of children who were adopted from foster care or a public agency identified as Black (The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, 2023; Statista, 2024). However, conversation, research, and general interest in same-race adoptees, who are Black, have been sparse, thus creating two conditions: (1) marginalization of the experience and (2) stereotyped information about Black adoptees. Therefore, this panel will consist of three Black adult adoptees: Katherin Garland, Tarcia Smith, and Kevin Hodge. The panel will begin with a 15-minute guided activity to help participants dispel commonly held biases about Black people who are adopted. Next, each panelist will share a 20-minute narrative to demarginalize the Black adoptee experience. Then, panelists will revisit biases and provide resources for Black adoptees who are seeking community. Participants will be encouraged to ask questions throughout.
Between 2021-2023, approximately 17% of children who were adopted from foster care or a public agency identified as Black (The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, 2023; Statista, 2024). However, conversation, research, and general interest in same-race adoptees, who are Black, have been sparse, thus creating two conditions: (1) marginalization of the experience and (2) stereotyped information about Black adoptees. Therefore, this panel will consist of three Black adult adoptees: Katherin Garland, Tarcia Smith, and Kevin Hodge. The panel will begin with a 15-minute guided activity to help participants dispel commonly held biases about Black people who are adopted. Next, each panelist will share a 20-minute narrative to demarginalize the Black adoptee experience. Then, panelists will revisit biases and provide resources for Black adoptees who are seeking community. Participants will be encouraged to ask questions throughout.
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Aimee Sones (she/her) passion for peace and curiosity about contemplative spiritual moments began at a young age. She is an adoptee, visual artist, and teacher. In 2015, Aimee discovered Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and meditation. Aimee founded Say Hello Meditation to share the transformative power of mindfulness with individuals from all walks of life.
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Ruby Barnett (she/her) was born in California, adopted by English parents, and brought up in London. Like many adoptees, she spent much of her life looking for meaning by overachieving. In the twenty years since beginning her search for her birth families, she has been slowing down to discover the healing possible through a calmer, meditative journey within.
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Seeing/Knowing/Experiencing Who You Really Are through MeditationDuring this workshop we will share what we have discovered within ourselves through our practices and the supporting science. We will introduce three meditation tools that people of all ages can use to begin to incorporate meditation into their daily lives through 30-second to 5-minute meditations.
The goal is to shift our energies from nervous, anxious, or uncomfortable to alignment for each individual. By grounding ourselves, we build our resilience and learn how to regulate our nervous systems. This regulation is further elevated by practicing in community—a room full of calm, grounded people is powerful!
Through meditation practice, we find belonging within ourselves as well as with our community. We will experience what multiple research teams have shown—that the effectiveness of meditation on the individual ripples out into the community. We are inspired to be the source of calm individuals that take and teach these tools to their families, friends, and communities.
The goal is to shift our energies from nervous, anxious, or uncomfortable to alignment for each individual. By grounding ourselves, we build our resilience and learn how to regulate our nervous systems. This regulation is further elevated by practicing in community—a room full of calm, grounded people is powerful!
Through meditation practice, we find belonging within ourselves as well as with our community. We will experience what multiple research teams have shown—that the effectiveness of meditation on the individual ripples out into the community. We are inspired to be the source of calm individuals that take and teach these tools to their families, friends, and communities.
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Gretchen Sisson is a sociologist who studies abortion and adoption in the United States.
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Saturday's Speakers
Author Panel
Sally Ankerfelt
Reimagining Adoption: What Adoptees Seek from Families and Faith |
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Rena Joy
Almost Loved |
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Jackson Terkeurst
The Only Way Forward Is Back |
Jean Widner
The Adoption Paradox |
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Zoe Hansen-DiBello (she/her) is the Founder & CEO of Adoptee Identity, a platform born from her personal journey of self-discovery as an adoptee and mother. Inspired by the powerful experience of genetic mirroring with her daughter, Zoe recognized the need for a space that centers adoptee voices through everyday experiences.
Parenting as an Adoptee: Navigating Identity in the Journey to Parenthood. Becoming a mother sparked my journey to better understand myself as an adoptee. Many adoptees share that parenthood is a powerful moment when curiosity about identity and origin intensifies.
This presentation explores the often-overlooked experience of adoptees becoming parents, and how we might reimagine the ways the adoptee experience is supported in healthcare settings- especially when we ourselves are becoming parents. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding and hear recommendations on how the nuances of adoptee identity manifest during prenatal care, labor, and early parenthood. |
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Dr. Liz DeBetta (she/her) is an adoptee, trauma-informed educator, & the founder of Migrating Toward Wholeness©, a healing methodology that supports trauma recovery & reconnection. She helps people reclaim voice, agency, & belonging through creative expression. Her book & solo show explore adoption, identity, & healing. Liz leads narrative healing workshops & trainings across the U.S. & internationally.
Breaking Silences, Building Connection: A Narrative Healing Workshop for the Adoption Constellation Connection is one of the deepest human needs — yet for many in the adoption constellation, that connection has been disrupted by silence, loss, and systems that prioritize secrecy over truth. This workshop offers a space to begin reconnecting: to your own story, to your voice, and to a community that understands the complexity of adoption.
Grounded in the Migrating Toward Wholeness© framework, this 90-minute session invites participants into a trauma-informed, expressive writing experience that centers relational healing. Through guided reflection, embodied awareness, and writing prompts rooted in lived experience, we’ll explore how storytelling can restore connection, deepen self-trust, and help us find one another across difference. This is an adoptee-centric space — centering the voices, needs, and experiences of adopted people — while welcoming all members of the adoption constellation who are ready to listen, reflect, and engage in a healing community. |
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Dr. Adam Anthony (he/him) is a leadership strategist, adoptee advocate, and founder of EmpowerMENt Solutions. He creates identity-affirming spaces for Black male adoptees, blending mentoring, mental health support, and community building to foster healing and growth. His work centers on connection, storytelling, and culturally responsive leadership.
EmpowerMENt Circles: Reimagining Belonging and Healing for Black Male Adoptees. This interactive workshop explores how culturally responsive, peer-based support groups can foster healing, identity formation, and community for Black male adoptees. Drawing from Dr. Adam Anthony’s lived experience and his work through EmpowerMENt Solutions, this session introduces the EmpowerMENt Circles framework—a community-based model centered on mentorship, mental wellness, and leadership development.
Participants will engage in guided reflection, storytelling prompts, and small group discussions to better understand the unique intersections of race, gender, and adoption. Attendees will leave with tangible strategies for cultivating supportive spaces that affirm identity, encourage vulnerability, and build strength through connection. |
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Brad Ewell (he/him) is a late-discovery adoptee. He learned he is adopted in 2019 after taking an Ancestry DNA test. He has told his story on several podcasts and The Moth. His story has also been featured in books and studies about adoption. He is in reunion with most of his biological family and lives in Texas with his wife and three children.
Trolls and Other Internet Friends that Help You Tell Your Story. My story was featured last year in the Washington Post and the UK Daily Mail and the prior year as part of a friend's Facebook storytelling page. These were some of the first times I’d shared my story with larger public, non-adopted groups. I was shocked by the negative comments and feedback directed at me personally and towards the concept of adoption in general. I decided to use the comment forum as a place to educate others rather than engage in a “keyboard war.” Using skills I’d learned in my professional life, I engaged in the comments section filled with hundreds of comments and used it as a platform to inform others. I believe it’s important for everyone in the adoption constellation to not only be able to share their story but also be prepared for backlash when they do. Being prepared for those moments helps us, as the storytellers, to keep from being silenced or having people detract from the truth of our lived experiences.
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