Dear AKA conference attendee,

Adoption Knowledge Affiliates is excited to announce early bird registration is open for our 2022 virtual conference, "Pebbles to Pearls: 30 years of education, connection, and support" happening November 4-5, 2022. This is a two-day event with daytime and evening content for those with a direct connection to adoption, foster care, and adjacent experiences such as the donor conceived and DNA discovery communities. We also welcome professionals serving in these fields. 

You are receiving this email because you attended the virtual conference last November, “Elevation: Voices in adoption and foster care,” hosted by AKA. This year, Adoption Knowledge Affiliates is hosting another virtual conference and we hope you can join us once again! You can expect the same dynamic content as last year and at previous AKA conferences - presentations on a diverse array of topics that are relevant to and will resonate with members of the communities mentioned above. We are excited to offer three keynote presentations this year:

• Lorraine Dusky is an award-winning journalist, editor and author who prefers to write stories that will make a difference. Her controversial memoir, Birthmark, published in 1979, was the first from a mother to write about the grief of giving up a child to adoption. She began her career as a newspaper reporter when she was 14, writing for her hometown newspaper. Her goal was always to break out of old-fashioned "women's news," yet her life and writing has been greatly shaped by the daughter she gave up for adoption, culminating in her recent book, Hole in my Heart.
• Melissa Guida-Richards is an author, adoptee, and advocate. She is the content creator behind the "Adoptee Thoughts" Podcast and Instagram account that she founded to help elevate adoptee voices and educate adoptive parents on the nuances and complexity of adoption. Melissa is the author of What White Parents Should Know About Transracial Adoption: an adoptee's perspective on its history, nuances, and practices. 
• Patricia Martinez Dorner, MA, LPC is a pioneer in open adoption and post adoption services, Patricia has been a relentless proponent of adoption reform. Her adoption focused practice includes education, support and training to individuals and professionals. She is a frequent conference speaker and author of many adoption related books. The adoptive mother of 2 adult daughters, she lives adoption personally and professionally.
  

...plus high caliber afternoon workshops and presentations and a Friday evening screening of the film, "Reckoning With The Primal Wound," along with a Q&A with Rebecca Autumn Sansom, adoptee and one of the film's producers. As always, there will be time for networking, sharing, peer support, and connection with others in the community. 

There are an abundance of CEU-earning opportunities for therapists, social workers, and other professionals in ethics and education. For those from out-of-state, past attendees have been successful in submitting our conference content for credit through their state’s certifying board. We are happy to provide additional documentation that may be needed for CEU credit. We can also provide a certificate of attendance to attendees upon request. 

Recorded conference content will be available for viewing for 90 days after the conference to registered conference attendees. Professionals, check with your certifying board to see if pre-recorded content is eligible for CEUs in your state. Do not hesitate to email us for assistance at [email protected]. Click here to learn more about our conference schedule, esteemed speakers, sponsors, and to register. We look forward to seeing you all November 4-5, 2022. Click here to register and take advantage of our early bird registration rates through October 15th! AKA members also receive a discount during registration, so now is a great time to renew your AKA membership!

We are so glad you have joined us in the past and hope we see you in a few weeks at our 2022 Virtual Conference! 

Sincerely, 

Shannon Quist, AKA Conference Chair

The AKA Conference Committee

ps. If you are already registered, be on the lookout for important emails from AKA about logging into the Conference Portal on the day of the conference. If you have not received log-in instructions from AKA check your SPAM or promotions folders. Also, you will need to login to the Portal with the email you used during registration. If you plan to use a different email, email AKA with your preferred log-in address prior to the conference.