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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!
Venue: Highland 3 (Lobby) clear filter
Friday, June 20
 

10:30am EDT

KAAN 2025 Orientation: Adoptees Ages 40+ (Adoptee Only)
Friday June 20, 2025 10:30am - 11:30am EDT
Highland 3 (Lobby)
Friday June 20, 2025 10:30am - 11:30am EDT
Highland 3 (Lobby)
  Adoptee-Only Session

12:00pm EDT

NaviGAYting Queer Adoptee Experiences*
Friday June 20, 2025 12:00pm - 1:15pm EDT
Highland 3 (Lobby)
This session will give attendees an opportunity to meet other LGBTQ+ adoptees and provide a space to talk about navigating the adoptee experience. Once out of the fog, how do we come out as adoptees? How do we manage the co-existence of multiple chosen families? How do we work through internalized racism, and how does that impact our dating preferences? How does our queer identity impact the relationship with our birth countries? How can we challenge heteronormativity and contribute toward building a more inclusive adoptee community? Let’s learn from each other and strengthen our collective voice.

This session will also be held on Saturday at 2:45 - 4:00 PM.
Speakers
avatar for Jimmy Byrne

Jimmy Byrne

Jimmy Byrne (he/him) is a Korean adoptee who grew up in Central New York and currently lives in Chicago. He has served on the boards of KAtCH (Korean Adoptees of Chicago) and Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus, and he is currently the Director of Development at a Korean-led immigrant justice... Read More →
Friday June 20, 2025 12:00pm - 1:15pm EDT
Highland 3 (Lobby)
  Adoptee-Only Session, Repeat Session

1:30pm EDT

Naming and Navigating Adoption Microaggressions*
Friday June 20, 2025 1:30pm - 2:45pm EDT
Highland 3 (Lobby)
In this interactive session, presenters will share key research on adoption microaggressions and facilitate a dynamic conversation for adoptees to reflect on personal experiences. Through guided dialogue, attendees will explore the impact of these microaggressions and work together to strategize empowered, proactive responses. This session creates a supportive space for adoptees to share stories, gain insight into common experiences, and leave with practical tools for navigating future interactions.

This session will also be held on Saturday at 9:30 - 10:45 AM as a Fishbowl session.
Speakers
avatar for Aeriel A. Ashlee

Aeriel A. Ashlee

Dr. Aeriel A. Ashlee (she/her) is a Korean American transracial transnational adoptee scholar and speaker. Her work focuses on amplifying adoptee voices, facilitating expansive (re)imagining of power, and advancing collective liberation by cultivating inner healing. Dr. Ashlee has... Read More →
avatar for DeLa Dos

DeLa Dos

DeLa Dos is the senior director, Learning + Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Association of Research Libraries—a nonprofit membership organization of research libraries in major public and private universities, federal agencies, and large public institutions in Canada and... Read More →
Friday June 20, 2025 1:30pm - 2:45pm EDT
Highland 3 (Lobby)
  Adoptee-Only Session, Repeat Session
 
Saturday, June 21
 

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
avatar for Tory Bae

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 →
avatar for Hannah Johns

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
avatar for Mindy Tsonas Choi

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
avatar for Becky Jenkins

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
avatar for Kiana Kishiyama

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
 
Sunday, June 22
 

9:45am EDT

Keeping the Peace
Sunday June 22, 2025 9:45am - 11:00am EDT
Highland 3 (Lobby)
Has your relationship with your adoptive family changed as you’ve aged and matured? What challenges or obstacles have you faced in relating to them over time? How have you navigated that? We invite you to hear our stories as adopted Koreans who are working through these dynamics on a daily basis, and engage in a discussion about reconciling these feelings as our own identities and definitions of family change. All adult adoptees are welcome to attend this session, however, we hope to hear specifically from those who are actively in contact with their adoptive families.
Speakers
avatar for Kerry Bondy

Kerry Bondy

Kerry was born in South Korea and adopted to a Midwestern suburb in the US. Her involvement in the Korean adoptee community began in 2001 after her first trip back to Korea on a Motherland tour. Since then, she has participated on adoptee panels, volunteered at and co-facilitated... Read More →
avatar for Chris Wodicka

Chris Wodicka

Chris Wodicka (he/him) lives in Philadelphia, PA, where he is pursuing a PhD in social welfare, with a research focus on U.S. tax and social policy. Since 2022, he has served on the board of Hamkae Center (formerly NAKASEC Virginia), a nonprofit organization in Virginia that organizes... Read More →
avatar for Katie McLemore

Katie McLemore

Katie McLemore is a transracial Korean adoptee, raised and currently living in Minnesota.
Sunday June 22, 2025 9:45am - 11:00am EDT
Highland 3 (Lobby)
  Adoptee-Only Session
 
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Friday, June 20
Saturday, June 21
Sunday, June 22
Azalea (Lobby)
Buckhead BR 1 (Lower lobby)
Buckhead BR 2 (Lower lobby)
Cascade (Lower lobby)
Grand Ballroom A & B
Highland 1 & 2 (Lobby)
Highland 3 (Lobby)
Highland 4 &5 (Lobby)
Ivy (Lobby)
Library (Lobby)
Meet in the Lobby
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  • Activities
  • Adoptee-Only Session
  • Check In
  • Fishbowl Session (Adoptee-Centered But Non-Adoptees May Attend To Listen)
  • General Session (Open To All Attendees)
  • Mainstage Event
  • Meals
  • Youth Program