TITLE: Transracial/Interracial Adoptee Changemakers

DESCRIPTION

This event featured panelists Isaac Etter, Mila Konomos, Hannah Jackson Matthews, and Maria Richmond. A changemaker can have a variety of different titles - author, director, media influencer, advocate, teacher, program director, creator, and more. In this We the Experts, we are highlighting Transracial/Interracial Adoptee Changemakers: individuals who are creating solutions within the adoption community and influencing the way we view adoption.

• How does your work within the community shape the narrative around adoption?

• What changes surrounding adoption would you most like to see most?

• How do you initiate the change you want to see?

• What are the challenges and rewards of being a transracial/interracial adoptee changemaker?

PANELISTS

Isaac Etter (he/him) is an activist and social entrepreneur. He was transracially adopted at the age of two. Isaac is the founder of Identity, a startup focused on using technology to help foster and adoptive families thrive. Isaac has worked in adoption through his consulting firm Etter Consulting for the past 5 years. At Etter Consulting, Isaac led trainings for families and adoption agencies on transracial adoption. He is passionate about making sure adoptees have parents that can support them. Isaac is excited to chat about his work in transracial adoption and meet and learn from the other panelists.

Mila Konomos (she/they), aka The Empress Han is a survivor of the International Adoption Trafficking Trade. She is a performance poet, artist, and writer. She has been featured on CNN and Korean American Story, as well as in several publications and the Adapted Podcast. Her work has been featured in the ABCs of AAPIs Coloring Book sponsored by the Asian American Advocacy Fund and in several anthologies. She has facilitated poetry workshops and published two musical poetry albums and several singles. Her latest project, a booklet + workbook titled, “Everything You Think You Know About Adoption is a Lie: An Introduction to Affirming and Centering Lived Experiences in the Deconstruction of the Adoption Myth,” will be released in 2023. Mila is excited to be on this panel because she is always eager to be granted the opportunity to share her journey in a way that cultivates deep and meaningful connection with others.

Maria Richmond (she/her) is an Afro Indigenous, transracial adoptee who currently lives in Texas with her husband, two children, and fur babies. She was born in Quito, Ecuador, South America in 1984 and relinquished to an orphanage before her first birthday. Maria was adopted before she was 3 years old and brought to the United States to live her new life with her adoptive American family. As an adult, she became very curious about learning her story and connecting the dots to her identity. Maria found and met her first/birth family in 2020-2021. During this time, she longed for connection with other adoptees and Maria was inspired to co-create ASA+ Extended Latin Americas. A community and space for adult adoptees who have ties to a Latin Country either by birth or birth parent. Maria Fernanda is extremely grateful for the opportunity to connect with others and share the importance of having community.

Hannah Jackson Matthews (she/her) was born in Kansas City, Missouri, to a white birth mother and Black birth father, Hannah Jackson Matthews, M.S. Ed. was adopted privately and domestically adopted. The Jacksons eagerly brought home their last baby and only baby girl and raised her in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Matthews enjoyed romping around her suburban neighborhood with her older brothers. And despite the simple joys of childhood, it seemed her joys were often being interrupted by the bias and discrimination of others. In a town comprised of not even one percent of people who shared Matthews' brown skin and curly hair, she didn't know how to navigate these painful experiences. Deeply lonely and insecure, she longingly searched for if and where she belonged. Her journey seeking what was missing continued on for years. In those years, Matthews found solace in the croon of Ella Fitzgerald, the flowing poetry of Q-Tip, the prose of Audre Lorde. She found beautiful friendships within my racial community. She found love with a beautiful Black man and in their two incredible children.Ultimately, with all of the help of those previously listed, and many more, she found herself. She discovered that in many ways, she was what she was missing. Today Matthews works tirelessly to support transracial adoptees as they find all the magic that they are, too.I can’t wait to meet and thoughtfully engage with everyone!