Monday Evening Speaker Series
Adoption Network Cleveland is pleased to offer a VIRTUAL Monday Evening Speaker Series full of topics that are of interest to a broad audience impacted by adoption, kinship, and foster care. These programs are made possible by donors and presenters volunteering their time and they thrive thanks to the active participation of attendees.
Upcoming Presentations
Monday, January 5, 2026
8:00 PM - 9:00 PM ET
Advocating for Change in Utah’s Adoption Landscape with Ashley Mitchell and Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard
Join Utah Adoption Rights co-founders Ashley Mitchell and Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard for an informative workshop on the ongoing crisis of Utah's private adoption practices. This session will unpack how “adoption tourism,” financial incentives, and weak safeguards in the law create conditions that advocates say blur the line between adoption and exploitation, and why Utah has been called the “wild west” of adoption. Join us to learn about Utah Adoption Rights’ organizing and storytelling work, key provisions in the forthcoming adoption amendments bill, what to watch in the upcoming legislative session, and how recent media coverage is shaping the push for meaningful reform.
About Ashley:
Ashley Mitchell is the Director of the Knee to Knee post placement program, set out to seek increased care, understanding, and resources for birth mothers. For almost two decades, Ashley has been one of the most consistent and sought after birth mother voices in the nation. Well known for her vulnerability and transparency in adoption, her story and advocacy has touched the hearts of countless members of the adoption community and beyond. She is the co-host of the Twisted Sisterhood Podcast and the mad creator over at Big Tough Girl.
About Kelsey:
Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard is the Director of Policy & Advocacy at Ethical Family Building, where she leads state and federal efforts to enhance protections for all parties in private adoption and center children’s long-term well-being. As a birth mother in an open adoption and a longtime professional in private adoption, she brings uniquely modern insight to adoption reform policy. Kelsey is dedicated to spotlighting the lived experiences of all parties in adoption through storytelling and advocacy; she is the co-author of the 2023 book Adoption Unfiltered, co-founder of Utah Adoption Rights, and co-producer of the documentary Carrying (2026). She also serves on the Advisory Council of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, lending her lived and professional expertise to national conversations on adoption and child welfare policy. Kelsey resides in Southern California.
Monday, January 12, 2026
8:00 PM - 9:00 PM ET
Navigating Worthiness through Dating, Marriage, and Divorce with Katie Gagel
Katie Gagel spent most of her youth and young adult life being skeptical of marriage and if it was “for her.” A self-proclaimed late bloomer, she began dating at 30 years old and began navigating the deep roots of relationships, dating, marriage, and divorce. This began her journey of discovery, reflection, and confrontation of worthiness that had always been woven and threaded into her DNA as an adoptee. Katie will share her experiences of navigating marriage, divorce, and post-divorce life while holding on to her Self, worthiness, and support systems.
About Katie
Katie Gagel was born in Seoul, South Korea and adopted to Louisville, KY. She is a project manager for a marketing agency and a lived-experience speaker on mental health, adoption, and diabetes. She is an active member of the online adoptee community, where she has led a weekly virtual support group for adoptees, an online adoptee book club, and shares her lived experience through vignette writing on Instagram. She is the founder of Asian Adoptees of Louisville and focuses on supporting adoptees and their work in the community.
Monday, February 2, 2026
Dictate Your Future: An Adoptee and Foster's Framework on Empowering Yourself and Creating a Future You Are Proud Of with Grace Yung Foster
Join Grace Yung Foster for an interactive workshop blending storytelling, discussion, and practical strategies to help Adoptees and Foster Care Alumni take control of their futures.
About Grace:
Grace Yung Foster is the Founder & CEO of The Inclusion Initiative, a tech platform that is changing the future of work for Adoptees and Foster Care Alumni.
At 3 years old, she was relinquished and considered an orphan in South Korea. She ended up in the US foster care system to be adopted. She did not have the same access to or visibility of opportunities because she did not have a family or network to learn from. This impacted her entire career trajectory. She realized that many Foster Alums and Adoptees experienced the same, and they fall behind in building their careers as they lack access to opportunity. This is why she built The Inclusion Initiative, and she is leading a national movement, creating more visibility, inclusion, and equity for Adoptees and Foster Alumni, especially in the world of work.
Grace is a former nonprofit fundraising executive. She holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and a BA in Communications from the University of Minnesota.
