TITLE: Partners of Adoptees

DESCRIPTION

This event featured panelists Bryan Tucker, Andy Johnson, Kris Workman, and Nikardi Jallah discussing aspects of being a partner to an adoptee.

PANELISTS

Nikardi Jallah (she/her)  Panelist (Partners of Adoptees) Nikardi Jallah was born and raised in the Netherlands to Liberian parents prior to moving to the United States in 2001 with her parents and sibling. Nikardi is an Epidemiologist for the Maryland Department of Health. She received her bachelor’s degree from The University of Virginia and her MPH from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University. She started dating an interracial adoptee in 2016 and they recently got engaged. Nikardi is passionate about public health, travel and learning more about the adoption kinship network. She can be reached at [email protected].  Nikardi is excited to be on the panel to discuss the unique experience of being a partner to an adoptee.

Bryan Tucker (he/him/his) is a two-time Emmy award winning documentary film director based in Seattle, WA. His first feature-length documentary, Closure (2013), secured national cable broadcast distribution, and was digitally distributed on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. Bryan has worked with a wide range of non-profit and commercial clients throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond, including VICE, PBS, Seattle Seahawks, Yoga Behind Bars, and The Guardian, to name a few. His most recent short documentary, Flat Town, was broadcast nationally on PBS “Reel South” in April 2021. Bryan is excited to be on this panel to hear others share their experiences of allyship with adoptees, and to share how he has learned over time to better practice allyship for his transracially adopted spouse. 

Kris Workman (he/his) is a queer, trans, and poly Senti and Roma man. Kris has a partner who is an adoptee and a kid who is a second-generation adoptee, as well as two more kids on the way. He works in the education system helping students who experience various barriers to attendance such as houselessness, transportation, social/emotional support, and more. He is excited to be a panelist and to have the chance to share with others his experience. Kris wanted to be on this panel because he thinks that partners of adoptees have a unique perspective on the adoptive experience by seeing what their partners go through and the experiences of melding adoptive and non-adoptive families together.

Andy Johnson (he/him/his) Andy Johnson was born and raised as an only child in snowy Minnesota. He currently resides in Oregon. He met his interracial adoptee partner, Shelise, at the age of 20 and they have been together ever since. Andy was able to travel with Shelise to Korea in 2011 to support her in searching for her Korean family and exploring Korea. Andy is the Transportation Marketing Manager at the engineering firm HDR, Inc.. Outside of work he enjoys backpacking, camping, and smoking large cuts of meat to share with his family and friends. Andy is excited to be on this panel to share what he has learned with others so they can be a strong support to their adoptee partner and they themselves feel supported in their unique role as partner to an adoptee. 

Alternate Panelist, Geno Ray (he/him/his) Geno Ray was born in Astoria, Oregon and spent the early part of his life running up and down the freezing beaches of the Pacific Ocean. His family relocated to Apache Junction, Arizona, where upon graduation he enlisted in the army and spent time in Missouri, Georgia, and South Korea. He has dabbled in acting, mixed martial arts, professional wrestling and currently works at a company that produces light sabers. He now lives in Hillsboro with his partner Laura, his stepson Makani, and son Cheveyo. Geno is excited to support this panel because there is so much adoption in his family and it really doesn't get talked about openly. Meeting his partner and listening to her experiences helped Geno realize adoption should be talked about more because it is a part of the story of a family.