One of AHA’s most valuable assets is its Advisory Group.
Our Advisory Group is comprised of adult adoptees from varied ethnic backgrounds, adoption and family types. All are accomplished in the fields of adoption, child welfare, education or counseling and all have the life experience of being adopted—whether through a state foster system, a domestic infant program or an intercountry adoption process.
Minnesota has long been recognized as a pioneer in adoption, and AHA is privileged to be guided by this current group of pioneers and leaders. The AHA Advisory Group includes:
- Professors and other educators
- PhD candidates in social sciences
- Psychologists and social workers
- Organization founders/directors
- Cultural leaders
- Adoption authors and filmmakers
- National Board members
- Child welfare policy and decision makers
In considering the quote by adoption pioneer and author, B. J. Lifton, “No one yet has put into words the complexity of being adopted,” the AHA Advisory Groups strives to create a collective voice that will do just that… by sharing common themes and recognizing individual shadings and nuances.
Michele Benson, Duluth, MN
Michele is a domestic adoptee and retired curriculum and instruction specialist for middle and high schools in Duluth. She facilitates a support group for adult adoptees in Duluth and provides consulting services to AHA.
Amy Fjellman, Minneapolis, MN
Amy Fjellman is the Program Coordinator for the AHA program. Her bio appears in the AHA Staff section.
Julie Hart, St. Paul, MN
A Korean adoptee, Julia is a licensed social worker who has worked with the American infant and international adoption programs at Children’s Home Society & Family Services. She is currently the co-facilitator of the AHA international/transracial adult adoptee support group and provides one-on-one peer support.
Kate Ingalls-Maloney, Minneapolis, MN
Kate serves in the AHA Advisory Group and is Program Manager for Adoptees Have Answers. Her bio appears in the AHA Staff section.
Michelle Johnson, Minneapolis, MN
Michelle Johnson, a transracially adopted Minnesota resident, is the Volunteer Coordinator for Minnesota’s 4th Judicial District Guardian ad Litem Program and co-founder of AFAAD MN. She has been conducting research in adoption and speaking nationally since 1990. Michelle appeared on CBS’s 60 Minutes and was interviewed in the breakthrough adoption video, Struggle for Identity: Issues in Transracial Adoption.
Jae Ran Kim, St. Paul, MN
Born in South Korea and adopted in Minnesota at age three, Jae Ran Kim is a licensed social worker and nationally recognized adoption educator and writer. Her work was most recently published in the anthologies, Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption, and HERE: A Visual History of Adopted Koreans in Minnesota. She is also the author of a very popular and well-respected blog, Harlow’s Monkey, at http://harlowmonkey.typepad.com
Hei Kyong Kim, Minneapolis, MN
Hei Kyong Kim is a Korean adoptee currently working with the Indian Health Board in Minneapolis, and specializing in adoption with a focus on PTSD, RAD, Fetal Alcohol Sprectrum Discorder, Child Protective Services, abuse and neglect and foster care. Hei Kyong is also a contributing author to Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption.
Mary Martin Mason, Minneapolis, MN
Mary Mason serves in the AHA Advisory Group and is the Executive Director of Minnesota Adoption Resource Network, AHA’s umbrella organization. Mary’s bio is in the AHA Staff section.
Penelope Needham, Eden Prairie, MN
For over 20 years, Penelope Needham has worked as a licensed K-12 music teacher and adoption support group facilitator for middle and high school students in the Minnetonka public schools. She currently serves on the Minnesota Coalition of Adoption Reform Board and co-facilitates an adult adoptee support group, AdopteesMN. Penny has been a presenter and panel member for both local and national conferences. She was domestically adopted in Minnesota.
Robert O’Connor, St. Paul, MN
Robert is a Professor of Social Work at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, MN. He and his older brother experienced multiple foster placement and adoption disruptions prior to their permanent transracial adoptions when Robert was four. O’Connor is known nationally as a trainer and consultant on transracial adoption and cultural competence in child welfare and serves on the National Resource Center for Adoption Training and Technical Team at the federal level. He founded the Transracial Adoption Network.
Sandy White Hawk, South St. Paul, MN
A Sicangu Lakota adoptee from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, Sandy is the founder of First Nations Orphans Association and organizes Truth, Healing and Reconciliation community forums to help reintroduce adopted and fostered people to their tribal and family connections. Sandy is a national recognized speaker on the history of removal of children from their Indian homes and is working on policies to prevent their removal in the future.
