Exploring Family Culture
With April Dinwoodie

The ability to consider family culture as a dynamic construct is important for all families and especially for adoptive families. Spending more time than usual with family presents a unique opportunity to explore the elements (big and small) that contribute to family culture and can lead to a much richer life experience in many regards. This session will offer a discussion about what family culture is and invite participants to reflect on family culture past, present, and future and the role adoption and play in shifting the culture and dynamic.

As a transracially adopted person, April Dinwoodie was raised in a predominately white environment and lives a life where it is imperative that she gracefully and safely move through circumstances and situations related to differences of race, class, and culture. While her New England upbringing taught her about labor, and her white family taught her about love, she had to teach herself about life as a woman of color. Through the very poignant and often misunderstood experiences of adoption, she has woven elements of the journey thus far into her work as a writer, podcaster, speaker/trainer, coach, and consultant. April is fiercely dedicated to developing a healthy identity, building stronger relationships, and elevating our collective ability to navigate differences of race, class, and culture.