KAAN 2025: Full Schedule

The KAAN 2025 Conference will take place at The Grand Hyatt in Atlanta, GA, on June 20-22. The theme this year is Growth and Change. As always, we offer an adoptee-only track alongside our general breakout sessions, which are open to all. We also offer programs for adults and youth (ages 8-17). All are welcome, including adoptees, birth families, family members (adoptive parents, spouses/partners, siblings and children of adoptees), service providers, and Korean Americans. We look forward to seeing you there!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at tech@wearekaan.org.

Donate to KAAN
KAAN is a Project of The Foundation for Enhancing Communities, fiscal sponsor. This permits KAAN to operate as a nonprofit under TFEC’s 501(c)(3) designation. The official registration and financial information of The Foundation for Enhancing Communities may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll-free, within Pennsylvania, at 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement. The Foundation for Enhancing Communities is registered in each state requiring such registration for charitable solicitation. Your donation is tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowable by law. Thank you!

arrow_back View All Dates

9:30am EDT

Holy Shift: Beliefs Beyond White Pews

Saturday June 21, 2025 9:30am - 10:45am EDT

Highland 3 (Lobby)

This session offers a safe space for transracial adoptees to reflect on growing up in predominantly white religious households and how these experiences shaped their identities. We’ll discuss challenges like cultural erasure and the expectations of assimilation, as well as the role of faith narratives in adoption. Participants are invited to share their journeys—whether it's deepening faith, transforming beliefs, or exploring new spiritual paths. This session affirms diverse faith journeys, highlighting how personal growth, racial consciousness, and spiritual evolution intersect uniquely for adoptees.

Speakers

Tory Bae

Tory Bae is a Korean adoptee who grew up in Minnesota and has called North Carolina home for over a decade. She works as a personal injury paralegal and does work for undergraduate admissions. She is passionate about supporting liberatory work for adoptees, as well as the queer and... Read More →

Hannah Johns

Hannah Johns (she/her/hers) is a dedicated International Grants Professional, writer, and storyteller with a passion for adoptee rights, family preservation, and community services. As a transracial, transnational adoptee from China, she brings a unique perspective to her work. With... Read More →

Saturday June 21, 2025 9:30am - 10:45am EDT
Highland 3 (Lobby)

Adoptee-Only Session

11:00am EDT

Resilience & Change Through the 5 Bodies

Saturday June 21, 2025 11:00am - 12:15pm EDT

Highland 3 (Lobby)

In this workshop, we will learn to practice through the 5 Bodies Framework for Collective Belonging as a way to connect with ourselves and one another through life-long growth and change. Being and belonging happens through the body - and not just our own. We are constantly changing, growing and connecting through our physical, emotional, psychological, cultural and spiritual bodies. Through discussion, light facilitation and personal reflection and journaling, we will explore through each part of the framework. This practice helps builds resilience through becoming more aware of how our ongoing growth and change is both unique and deeply interconnected.

Speakers

Mindy Tsonas Choi

Mindy is a somatic artist and cultural organizer who facilitates circles of creativity, collective belonging and care. She believes that art-making is a medium for radical healing, connection, community care and social change, and has worked with organizations such as the Smithsonian... Read More →

Saturday June 21, 2025 11:00am - 12:15pm EDT
Highland 3 (Lobby)

Adoptee-Only Session

2:45pm EDT

Finding Home: Navigating Cultural Betrayal Trauma

Saturday June 21, 2025 2:45pm - 4:00pm EDT

Highland 3 (Lobby)

By defining what Cultural Betrayal Trauma (CBTT) is and looks like, adoptees can receive validation, engage in self-reflection of their unique and shared experiences, grieve the pain/loss that comes with (CBTT), and identify and grow a healing community for themselves.
We will create and hold contemplative space for sharing, witnessing, and collective healing through discussion, writing, and connection. We will learn about CBTT on an individual, relational, and community level, and provide pathways for healing in connection with each other.

Speakers

Becky Jenkins

Becky is a Korean American Adoptee and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Chicago, Illinois. Her work with individuals who have experienced trauma has profoundly transformed her work as a practitioner, and her life a human being. Becky enjoys cooking, spending time outdoors... Read More →

Saturday June 21, 2025 2:45pm - 4:00pm EDT
Highland 3 (Lobby)

Adoptee-Only Session

4:15pm EDT

Language (Re)Learning: Conversations About Identity*

Saturday June 21, 2025 4:15pm - 5:30pm EDT

Highland 3 (Lobby)

Language and identity are inextricably linked. However, language learning experiences for international adoptees might be complicated—how do our language experiences contribute to our sense of identity? When we use our languages do we feel closer to our heritage, or do we feel more distant from our cultures? This two-part session involves hearing about recent research relating to language and identity with international adoptees in Canada, then engaging in discussion about different kinds of language learning experiences, and how they have contributed to our sense of identity. No language learning experience necessary, all adoptees are welcome to share their thoughts.

This session will also be held on Friday at 12:00 - 1:30 PM.

Speakers

Kiana Kishiyama

Kiana Kishiyama is a transracial Chinese adoptee from British Columbia, Canada. She is an aspiring researcher whose research interests include language, race, identity, and international adoption. Her current research focuses on international adoptees' experiences with (re)learning... Read More →

Saturday June 21, 2025 4:15pm - 5:30pm EDT
Highland 3 (Lobby)

Adoptee-Only Session, Repeat Session