2016 Conference At-A-Glance

37th Annual American Adoption Congress
International Conference
Schedule At-A-Glance
NOTE: Please be aware of times that Registration will be open.
These times will be adhered to so those on the Registration Desk may attend workshops
Disclaimer: Please be aware that this is the latest draft schedule of the 2016 AAC Conference.
However, this information is subject to change based on a variety of factors.

Register Now

Day/ Date	Date/ Time	Session	Workshop Title	Presenter(s)	Credentials
Wednesday 03/30/2016	1:30 PM 3:30 PM		REGISTRATION OPEN REGISTRATION CLOSED
	3:45 PM – 4:00 PM		Welcome
	4:00 PM – 5:30 PM	KEYNOTE	Knowing Where We Came From, Informs Where We Should Be Going	Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao	Ed.D., LCSW, LMFT
	5:30 PM 6:45 PM		Dinner on your own
	6:15 PM 8:15 pm		REGISTRATION OPEN REGISTRATION CLOSED

	7:00 PM – 8:15 PM		Welcome to AAC 2016!	Pam Hasegawa Susan Friel-Williams	BA, English
	8:30 PM – 10:00 PM	FILM	We’re Not Blood	Jeff Togman	PhD

Thursday 03/31/2016	6:30 AM- 9:00 AM		Breakfast
	6:30 AM- 7:30 AM		Moving Meditation Yoga	Cathy Koley
	6:30 AM – 8:30 AM		REGISTRATION OPEN REGISTRATION CLOSED
	8:30 AM – 9:00 AM		Opening Remarks	Cynthia McGuigan
	9:00 AM – 10:30 AM	KEYNOTE	To be Seen and Heard: How Adoptees Empower Themselves to Create Social Change	Amanda Woolston	MSS, LSW
	10:30 AM – 11:00 AM		Break
	11:00 AM – 12:15 PM	*100 Series*	*Workshop Sessions*
		101	Stories Matter.. Black German American Adopted	Rosemaria Pena	M.A., PhD Candidate
		102	Empowered Poetry: Our Voices, Our Stories	Dr. Garnet Wind	Ed.D
		103	The Impact of Infertility on Adoptive Parenting	Phyllis Lowinger	MS, LCSW, ACSW
		104	Liberation Among Landmines: Race and Culture in Adoption & Foster Care	Krista Woods, Katy Perkins	LCSW LMSW-AP
		105	Someone Like Me: Identity Lessons I have Learned	Pam Sweester	BS in Journalism
		106	Post Placement Services to Birth Parents: Retreats and Support Groups	Lori Scobee Caroline McDermott	BA, LSW
	12:00 PM – 5:00 PM		Art Room
	12:30 PM – 1:45 PM		Regional Lunch – Boxed

	2:00 PM – 3:15 PM	*200 Series*	*Workshop Sessions*
		201	Youth Visual Studio-Providing Youth Voice in Heart Gallery Recruitment	Beverly Gmerek Kristi Griffith-Jones	Masters Prevention Science, BS Mass Communication, VCU
		202	An Adoptive Father’s Epiphany	John Brooks
		203	Donor Conception: Past, Present and Future That Needs Action	Kris Probasco	LCSW, LSCSW
		204	Search and Reunion: Ask an Angel	Vanessa Waite Natalie Manolakis Kimberley Haskitt Jennifer Johnston
		205	The Heart of an Adoptee\| Recognizing Grief	Reshma McClintock
	3:15 PM – 3:45 PM		SPOKEO Coffee BREAK
	3:30 PM 5:00 PM		REGISTRATION OPEN REGISTRATION CLOSED
	3:45 PM – 5:00 PM		Support Groups
	5:30 PM – 7:00 PM		Dinner on Your Own
			State Representative Gathering
	7:30 PM – 9:00 PM	PLAY	The Ice Cream Gene	Susan Ito	MFA in creative writing
	9:00 PM – 11:30 PM		Hospitality Meet-up

Friday 04/01/2016	6:30 AM – 9:00 AM		Breakfast
	6:30 AM – 8:30 AM		REGISTRATION OPEN
	8:30 AM- 3:45 PM		REGISTRATION CLOSED
	7:00 AM- 8:00 PM		Moving Meditation Yoga	Cathy Koley
	8:00 AM – 5:00 PM		Art Room
	8:30 AM – 9:00 AM		Announcements and Give-Aways
	9:00 AM – 10:30 AM	KEYNOTE	Adoptees in the wild: Navigating adoption Microaggressions and identity challenges in adoption	Dr. Amanda Baden	PhD
	10:30 AM – 11:00 AM		Break
	11:00 AM – 12:15 PM	*300 Series*	*Workshop Sessions*
		301	Six Word Adoption Memoirs	Andrew Tash Derek Frank	JD, MA, MA MA
		302	Panel: Individual Keynote Presenters	Amanda Baden, Mark Hagland, Amanda Transue-Woolston	PhD BA, MS MSS, LSW
		303	Connecting the Dots: Adoption and the Modern Family	April Dinwoodie Kathleen Nielsen	MSW, Ph.D Candidate
		304	Colorado: Two Years, Five Bills, Four Unanimous Votes!	Rich Uhrlaub Hon. Lori Saine Shane Madsen Betsy Clark Murry	M.Ed J.D.
		305	It Takes Two to Hug: Strengthening Attachment in Adoptive Families	Jeannine Zoppi	PhD,MA, BS,
	12:15 PM – 1:45 PM		Awards Luncheon

	2:00 PM – 3:15 PM	*400 Series*	*Workshop Series*
		401	Mitigating & Managing Collateral Damage: Impact of Adoption on 1st Family	Susan Bednarz Denise Roessle Kathy Aderhold Richard Kish	Nurse and Nurse Mid-Wife
		402	‘Flip the Script: Adult Adoptee Anthology’ published by the An-Ya Project	Mei Mei Akwai Ellerman Susan Harris O’Connor Mi Ok Brunning Meggin Nam Holtz	PhD, MA,BAr MSW LCSW BFA
		403	How to Choose an Adoption Competent Therapist	Dr. Joyce Pavo Maguire	Ed.D.,LCSW, LMFT
		404	Male Adoptees – Cowboy Up or Man Down?	Rich Uhrlaub	M.Ed
		405	The Donor Sibling Registry (DSR) – A Global Registry for Donor Families	Wendy Kramer	B.A. Communication Arts
		406	Opening a Closed International Adoption: The Journey	Lee Varron Jose Varron	M.Ed, LICSW
	3:15 PM – 3:45 PM		Break
	3:45 PM – 5:30 PM		REGISTRATION OPEN
	5:30 PM		REGISTRATION CLOSED
	3:45 PM – 5:00 PM		Support Groups
	5:00 PM – 7:15 PM		Dinner on Your Own
	5:15 PM 7:15 PM		Representative and Board of Directors Meetup
	7:30 PM – 9:30 PM	FILM	*You Follow: A Search for One’s Past*	Nisha Grayson
	9:30 PM – 11:00 PM		Hospitality Meet-up

Saturday 04/02/2016	6:30 AM – 8:30 AM		Breakfast
	6:30 AM 8:15 AM		REGISTRATION OPEN REGISTRATION CLOSED
	8:00 AM – 12:00 PM		Art Room
	8:00 AM – 9:30 AM	Birth/First parent KEYNOTE PANEL	From Rocky Mountains to the High Plains: The Courage and Grit of Women Who Relinquish	Marilyn M Waugh Delores Teller Kathleeen Nielsen	MA BS,MSW, LCSW Ph.D Candidate

	9:30 AM – 9:45 AM		Break
	9:30 AM – 10:45 AM	500 Series	*Workshop Session 5*
		501	The Adult Adoptee’s Codebook for Effective Mental Health Care	Julie Lopez	LICSW, Ph.D
		502	Ethics in Search – Discussion of Search Procedures from Ethical Standpoints	Susan Friel-Williams Debra Allen Mary Wilson	Licensed Investigator Certified AZ Confidential Intermediary
		503	Open Adoption Over Time: The Rest of the Story	Rebecca Falco Rachelle Damron Tina Miller-Primus Kimberely James Kevin J Falco	J.D., M.A., M.T.S
		504	Walking Softly in the Wildness: Expect the Unexpected	LeAnne Parson	Certified Professional Life Coach Energy Leadership Master Practitioner
		505	Black Adoptees/Black Adoption, Race & Adoption Narratives	Shannon Gibney Amadine Gay	MA; MFA, MA
		506	Claiming our Space	Nancy Verrier	LMFT
	11:00 AM – 11:15 AM		Break

	11:15 AM – 12:30 PM	*600 Series*	*Workshop Sessions*
		601	Adoption/Addiction	Nicole Burton Daryn Watson
		602	Bi-Racial Adoption in the Era of the Civil Rights Movement	Lisa Richesson
		603	Adoption Agencies: Moving from Opponent to Ally	Dana Stallard	LMSW
		604	From Group Care to Family Life	Toni Heineman	LCSW, DMH
		605	Blazing Subtle Trails	Lori Holden Addison Cooper	MSW, LCSW
		606	Adoptee Romantic Radar Revisited	Ron Nydam	PhD, B.A.,M.Div,D.Min
	12:30 PM		Art Room – Pick up of all Art
	12:30 PM – 1:45 PM		Lunch on Your Own

	1:45 PM – 3:00 PM	*700 Series*	Workshop Sessions
		701	DNA Tests Change Everything!	Kevin Thomas
		702	The Journey to Parenthood: Finding the Humor Within the Adoption Process	Debbie Scheer	BA in communication studies
		703	Rehoming in Adoption: Clinical Exploration into the Darker Side of Adoption	Amy Curtis Melanie Chung-Sherman	LPC LCSW-S, CTS, LCPAA
		704	Internet Searching for Family: How to Blaze that Trail	Marilyn Mendenhall Waugh	MA
		705	Recognizing Relinquishment As a Critical Variabal	Delores Teller	BS,MSW, LCSW
		706	Three Generations, Three Perspectives of First/Birthmothers	Marienne O’Brien Arlene Donovan
	3:00 PM – 3:30 PM		AAC Coffee Break
	3:30 PM – 5:00 PM	KEYNOTE	“Race: The Final Frontier? Unlocking the ‘Undecipherable Codes’ in Transracial Adoption”	Mark Hagland
	5:15 PM – 8:00 PM		Dinner on Your Own
	8:00 PM – 11:00 PM		Mt Sophris Reception

Sunday 04/03/2014	8:30 AM – 9:45 AM		Farewell Breakfast Social