Beth Hall is the white adoptive mother of a Latina daughter and an African American son (both now young adults), and grew up with an adopted sister. She co-founded Pact in 1991 to combat the discrimination she witnessed against adopted children of color and their birth families. Since that time, she has facilitated the placement of over 1000 infants of color into strong, loving homes. She is the co-author, with Gail Steinberg, of the book Inside Transracial Adoption (Perspectives Press, 2000), as well as numerous articles on adoption and race. She is a nationally known advocate for adopted children of color who regularly lectures and leads workshops on ethical, non-racist adoption practices. In 2010 she received the Outstanding Practitioner in Adoption Award from the Adoption Initiative at St. John's University.
return to top ^
Malaika Parker works with adoptive parents of color (and their parenting partners) to design resources and create community for same-race adoptive families. As an African American adoptive parent, she understands how hard-and important-it is for same-race adoptive parents to find resources that apply to their own family dynamics as opposed to those that apply to transracial families.
return to top ^
Marsha Hiller is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a private practice in North Berkeley. She specializes in working with multiracial families, adoptive families, and the LGBTQ community. She is also faculty at John F. Kennedy University. At Pact, she leads groups for and provides counseling to transracial adoptive parents.
return to top ^
Katie Wynen, MSW, a Colombian adoptee, has a Masters in Social Work. After college, Katie worked at Hyde School in CT where she helped design a program for adopted youth and parents. Katie studied under Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao in Boston before moving to California and joining the Pact staff where she leads groups, works with tweens and teens and provides psycho-educational counseling to pre-adoptive parents.
return to top ^
Deanna Matthews is a biracial (African American/white) single parent who has found great commonality between her own experience of racial ambiguity and that of many adoptees of color. She brings that understanding to all her work at Pact, as well as a passion for educating adults and supporting children in defining their identity in positive ways in a racialized world. She has been involved in organizing Pact Family Camp since 2009, and became Camp Director in 2011.
return to top ^
Susan Ito is a biracial Asian adoptee, teacher and writer. From 2004 through 2010, she served as the Director of Pact Family Camp. She is also the co-editor of the anthology A Ghost At Heart's Edge: Stories & Poems of Adoption (North Atlantic Books). Her work has appeared in many publications, including Growing Up Asian American, CHOICE, Making More Waves, Hip Mama and Literary Mama, where she is a columnist and creative nonfiction editor. She lives in Oakland with her husband, two daughters and mother.
return to top ^
Michele Rabkin and her African American husband adopted their multiracial daughter with help from Pact. Michele is tremendously grateful for all that Pact does to create and support families like her own. In addition to working as an arts administrator, she does free-lance writing and editing for Pact and other organizations she cares about.
return to top ^
Lisa Kelly, a biracial (Black/white) adoptee, has a Masters in Early Childhood Education and is a 5th grade teacher in Berkeley Unified School District. She and her brother were adopted transracially by white parents. Lisa understands the importance of adoptees of color coming together to collectively explore and learn about their culture, ancestry, and identity.
return to top ^
Multiracial himself (Black and Mexican or, as he says, "Blaxican"), Guillermo Torres is dedicated to engaging youth through hip hop and spoken word. He has been working as a Poet Mentor Educator for the UC Davis School of Education (Sacramento Area Youth Speaks).
return to top ^
Cheryl Fabio received a JD from John F. Kennedy's School of Law in 2009, where she specialized in Public Interest Law. She has worked extensively in film, television and video production; probably her most treasured professional position was serving as the Program Director for Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, Inc. She is an adoptive grandmother who values the education Pact provides about her grandchildren's lifetime journey. She is committed to Pact's mission to ensure that African Americans' place at the adoption table is recognized and valued.
return to top ^
Sofia Arroyo is a Latina, Guatemalan adoptee raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sofia graduated from Occidental College with a Bachelor of the Arts in Sociology and Spanish. Prior to working for Pact, Sofia worked and volunteered at several non-profits, including Planned Parenthood in the Bay Area and Peer Health Exchange, a Los Angeles non-profit teaching a comprehensive health curriculum to 9th graders who are otherwise underserved. Sofia has an avid commitment to issues of social justice and a passion to fight for gender, class, sexuality, and racial equality.
return to top ^
David Berwick, a Colombian adoptee, has a background in non-profit, business, and website administration. His personal experience as an adopted person who came to the US at age five has made him a compassionate individual who values diversity and the nuanced approach to adoption and race that Pact embodies. Based on his own experience as a child placed with his two siblings into a white American family, he understands the importance of giving children access to their truth and voice to their feelings about adoption and race.
return to top ^
Ronnie Garcia, a Latino man, grew up in the Los Angeles area where he met his fiancée, a transnational adoptee from Korea; he earned a BS in Business Management from Cal State Northridge. Ronnie believes in Pact because he has seen the pain and loss that results from adoptees whose families do not have access to the kind of resources that Pact provides. He is happy to be part of an organization that helps adopted children learn about their birth heritage and supports open records.
return to top ^
Attallah Hill, who became a mother in 2007, is happy to be working for an organization that supports children and families of color however they are formed. She is a certified bookkeeper with experience in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors.
return to top ^
|
