2017 Atlanta AAC Conference Logo
Susan E. Friel-Williams 
The AAC is proud to announce the 2017 American Adoption Congress Conference logo winner for our Atlanta Conference. Our winner is Jamel Darling from Chicago, Illinois
Jamel says, "I'm excited to be chosen winner of the Logo Contest! I hope my contribution will further the goals of the AAC & the people who are working to make change."
Congratulations and thank you Jamel!
Rob Gent: 2017 Keynote Speaker
Susan E. Friel-Williams 
Rob Gent MA is one of the founding members of Calo and its Chief Clinical Officer. Mr. Gent has led the Calo organization in clinical development and growth of numerous programs and is the lead developer of the proprietary CASA Developmental Trauma Treatment Model. Through his dedication to the advancement of clinical practice in treating Developmental Trauma and Attachment issues, he has become a nationally recognized expert in the field. Rob remains passionate about neurological, psychological, and physiological development and continues to focus on the advancement of research and effectiveness of therapeutic interventions. He resides in Lake Ozark MO with his wife and two boys.
Marilyn Churley: Keynote Speaker 2017
Susan E. Friel-Williams
Marilyn Churley is a reunited first mother and the author of a memoir, Shameless: The Fight for Adoption Disclosure and the Search for my Son. Marilyn is a former Toronto City Councillor, Member of Provincial Parliament, Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations, Registrar General and the first female Deputy Speaker of the Ontario Legislature. She worked relentlessly on disclosure reform for over ten years and has been called the ``mother`` of adoption disclosure reform in Ontario. She introduced five private members bills in the legislature and finally reached success in 2005 when the government of the day passed legislation based on her work. Marilyn was appointed to the bench as a Justice of the Peace in 2009 but continues to tour and give talks about her political and personal experiences with adoption. Marilyn has two children, Billy and Astra and two grand children, James and Tristan. She lives in Toronto with her husband Richard.
Attention - Correction
Amy Winn Sincere apologies to Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao.
We inadvertently shortened her name when announcing the Advisory Committee in the last Beacon.
Keynote Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker
Cynthia McGuigan 
Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker is an adoptee, adoptive parent, licensed psychologist, author of “EMPOWRD! Ways to Respond to Adoption Questions” Workbook, and owner of Beyond Words Psychological Services.
The American Adoption Congress is pleased to introduce Dr. Wirta-Leiker to our 2017 Conference attendees in Atlanta.
2017 Keynote: Amy Mihyang Ginther
Susan Friel-Williams
Amy Mihyang Ginther is a professor in the Theater Arts Department at UC Santa Cruz and has lived, taught, and performed in the US, UK, Argentina, Czech Republic, Ireland, Vietnam, and South Korea. Her first solo show, between, was performed in New York, Seoul, and at the Edinbugh Fringe. Amy has also worked with Theatre Amoeba, for which she was featured in a TEDx talk in Cheongju. She was on the cover of the New York Times Magazine in 2014, is a contributing writer for Transracial Eyes, and has been referenced in Reuters, Al Jazeera, The Wall Street Journal, KoreAm, and The Toast.
Accepting Articles
Susan E. Friel-Williams We are accepting articles for the new few Beacons, so if you'd like to submit please send to AACMembership2016@Gmail.com. Thank you! |
Extra Extra, Read all about it!
Cynthia McGuigan We have exciting announcements to share with you regarding our stellar lineup for the 2017 Atlanta American Adoption Congress conference.
We're including a few of our Keynote speakers in this edition of the Beacon. Stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter pages as we update and introduce our keynote presenters and our keynote workshop lineup!
Dr. Ruth McRoy to Keynote at the Atlanta AAC Conference 2017
Cynthia McGuigan  The American Adoption Congress is pleased to announce our first confirmed Keynoter for the Atlanta conference.
In September 2009, Ruth G. McRoy became the first holder of the Donahue and DiFelice Endowed Professorship at Boston College School of Social Work. Prior to joining the Boston College faculty, McRoy held the Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professorship at the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work.
Keynote: Allison Larkin LIVE!
Susan E. Friel-Williams
The Times “Alison Larkin offers hugely entertaining, marvelously light-footed reflections on how we become the kind of people we think we are, nature vs nurture and the ups and downs of the great Anglo-American love affair… a lesson in the human condition.”
Alison Larkin LIVE! A hilarious new show from the internationally acclaimed comedienne, award winning audiobook narrator and bestselling author of The English American, a novel.
Motherhood? Me? You’ve got to be kidding! How does the daughter of British adoptive parents who became a stand-up comic after finding her birth mother in the American South raise her own kids? She’s still trying to figure it out. In her hilarious, thought-provoking new show she’ll talk about parenting, nature, nurture, England, America, women on overload - and how to make a decent cup of tea.
Brave New World
Rebecca Palton Falco When I entered the world of fully open adoption in 1993, I thought I knew what we were getting into. My husband, John, and I would meet and get to know the pregnant woman who had chosen us to be adoptive parents for her child. We would plan our time at the hospital when the baby was born, and we would create a written agreement – though not legally binding – that would outline our future contact after the birth. There would be no artificial barriers between us in the form of an intermediary or adoption agency representative. Our contact with our child’s birth family would be direct - more like contact with extended family members. And so it was. Our first adoption was picture perfect…
Read More
Missouri Grants OBC Access to Adoptees born before 1941
Keynote: Kathy Mackechney, LCSW
Susan Friel-Williams  Kathy Mackechney, LCSW, is an adoptee and therapist who founded Adoptee Therapy, LLC, to specialize in working with adoptees and their families. Kathy saw a need for therapists who *get it* during her experiences of having to educate her own therapists about the issues adoptees commonly face. Kathy formerly worked as a caseworker and director of adoption services to advocate for adoptees' voices in child placement agencies, and her mission is to increase adoptive and prospective adoptive parents' understanding of, and compassion for, adopted children's behaviors to be able to provide the nurturing, yet structured, parenting these children need.
Amazing Response for Workshop Submissions
AAC Board We have had an amazing turnout to our call for workshop proposals. The Workshop Committee has said, "The hardest part of the selection process is that we had so many 'great' presentations to choose from!"
Stay tuned as they are announced. Presenters, you will be notified as quickly as possible with the committee choices for the 2017 Atlanta Conference! |
