Our Address:
12200 Fairhill Road, Floor A3
Fairhill Partners Collaborative Campus
Cleveland, OH 44120

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.

 

Upcoming Presentations 


Monday, March 18, 2024

8:00 - 9:00 PM ET

Let's Get Calm: Practical Strategies to Move from Dysregulation to Regulation with Lesli Johnson

Trauma and nervous system dysregulation can lead to long-term health issues and let's face it, it's uncomfortable to feel uneasy in our bodies. This presentation will offer multiple ways to incorporate simple lifestyle practices to calm and soothe your brain and body. From breathwork to Brainspotting (and much more) you'll have the option to practice some of these exercises right away and experience a greater sense of well-being.

About Lesli
Lesli Johnson is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Coach specializing in adoption and related issues. Her clients include all members of the adoption and foster care community: adoptees, adoptive parents, birth/first parents, foster parents and families. Lesli also works with donor-conceived individuals and those impacted by DNA surprises and misattributed parentage experiences.

An adoptee herself, Lesli’s personal experience allows her to connect with this community in a unique way. Lesli is a certified EMDR therapist and trained in Brainspotting and the Trauma Resiliency Model. Lesli also helps clients prepare for and integrate psychedelic experiences and is trained in Ketamine Assisted Therapy. In addition to her work in private practice, Lesli facilitates virtual healing courses, adoption support groups and regularly consults on film, television and creative projects that have adoption, foster-care and misattributed parentage related themes. Learn more or connect with Lesli.


Special Event

Monday, April 1, 2024

7:30 - 9:30 PM ET

Somebody's Daughter Film Screening - American Online Debut with Zara Phillips

Join us for the American online debut of this special new film: Somebody’s Daughter by Zara Phillips. Somebody’s Daughter is a film based on Zara Phillip’s book of the same title.

Adopted as a baby in the 1960s, becoming a backing vocalist to well-known bands in the 80s, and getting sober at 22, Zara takes us on her journey to uncover the truth about her history. The story is told with humor and no-holds-barred honesty about the complexity of having four parents, becoming a mother, and learning to navigate it all. A discussion with the filmmaker will follow the film.

Presented in partnership with Adoption Knowledge Affiliates and Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York. Please note the event is from 7:30-9:30 PM. There is an $11 base price to register, but please consider selecting the $20 ticket to help keep Adoption Network Cleveland events accessible to all. All proceeds above the base ticket price will benefit Adoption Network Cleveland, keeping unbiased and informative programs fee-free.

About Zara
Zara Phillips is a singer and songwriter, actor, author, and activist. As an adoptee herself, much of her work is centered around the adoption world and is focused on improving understanding the lifelong impact of adoption. She is a mother of three and is married to musician Richard Thompson. She divides her time between London and New Jersey. Zara was raised in Totteridge, North London, and was adopted as a baby. She found her birth mother at 24 and after a lifelong search, her birth father at 51. She was always singing and writing as a child, which led to her becoming a harmony singer in the 80s, with acts like Bob Geldof, Matt Bianco, David Essex, and Nick Kamen.

After a spell of addiction, she became sober at age 22, and devoted more of her time to her own music, writing and activism. Her 2006 CD ‘When The Rain Stops’ and ‘You me and us” 2011. were produced by Ted Perlman. Her 2008 Film ‘Roots Unknown’ won Best Homegrown Documentary at the NJ Garden State Film Festival. Her 2008 book, ‘Mother Me’ describes the unfolding as an adoptee raises a family of her own. Her song ‘I’m Legit’, cowritten with Darryl McDaniel’s of DMC, has been a huge hit in the adoption world and beyond. ‘Beneath My Father’s Sky’, a one woman show that Zara wrote and performed, was the winner of Best Direction at NYC United Solo festival in 2014, and was also performed in LA, San Francisco, Connecticut, and in London in 2016.

She was presented with an ‘Angel in Adoption’ award 2015. In the past, Zara has facilitated workshops with adopted families and the mental health professionals. She engages the teens to create songs about their experience. Zara’s book ‘Somebody’s daughter’ published by John Blake/Bonnier Publishers, was released February 2018 in the UK and August 2018 in the USA. Zara has written and performed a play with the same title in England and the US in 2022.A production of a film version of the play will be released in early 2024. Zara tours with her husband Richard Thompson performing as a harmony singer. Zara’s new album ‘Meditation and KitKats’ is available on CD and all streaming platforms.


Monday, April 15, 2024

8:00 PM - 9:00 PM ET

Intersecting Paths: My Journey Alongside My Birth Mother with Madison Michael Ashley

"Intersecting Paths: My Journey Alongside My Birth Mother" delves into the unique and evolving relationship between an adult adoptee and her birth mother within an open, transracial adoption journey. A narrative woven with moments of deep connection, personal and comparative growth, and the navigation of complex challenges. Through a candid exploration of life’s pivotal moments, Maddi will share insights into how divergent paths have intersected with love, understanding, and mutual support, shaping both individual and shared experiences. The discussion will extend beyond personal stories to address larger themes of identity, cultural navigation, and the nuances of open adoption dynamics. Attendees are encouraged to engage, share their questions, and foster a rich dialogue. This session aims to illuminate the profound bonds and lessons learned through an adoptee’s perspective, offering hope, empathy, and a deeper understanding of the adoption experience.

About Maddi
At just 20 years old, Maddi Ashley brings a decade of public speaking to the table, having started sharing her adoption journey at just age 11. Maddi's commitment to community and global outreach is evident in her notable achievements. She is a proud alumnus of the prestigious Youth Ambassadors program, an initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of State aimed at empowering young leaders. Further showcasing her dedication to education and cross-cultural communication, Maddi has earned her CELTA—a Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages—from the esteemed Cambridge University.

Her advocacy work and insightful perspectives on race and identity were notably recognized in Michele Norris's "Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity." Maddi's contributions to this work illustrate her deep engagement with and thoughtful analysis of the complex tapestry of American identity and the nuanced conversations that shape our understanding of ourselves and others.

Beyond her academic and advocacy endeavors, Maddi has also contributed her talents and time as a youth counselor for Tempo Music Camp. This non-profit organization holds a special place in her heart, offering a nurturing and creative space for girls, trans, and non-binary youth aged 12-18 to explore and grow through music. When not teaching, or mentoring, Maddi indulges in her passions for playing music, crafting beautiful pieces of jewelry, and enjoying time in nature. With her multifaceted talents and unwavering dedication to making a difference, Maddi Ashley is set to provide a compelling and insightful presentation on "Intersecting Paths: My Journey Alongside My Birth Mother," drawing from her deeply personal experience.


Monday, May 13, 2024

8:00 - 9:00 PM ET

Abandoned at Birth: Searching for the Arms That Once Held Me with Janet Sherlund

Join author Janet Sherlund as she discusses her elegant and heart-wrenching memoir, ABANDONED AT BIRTH: Searching for the Arms That Once Held Me.

Sherlund paints a vivid portrait of the detachment and longing of an adopted child and the lifelong quest to find her biological mother. It’s an unflinching examination of the grief and trauma caused by this primal separation and the dogged determination it takes to face the forces of opposition—both internal and external—to finally attain answers. ABANDONED AT BIRTH illuminates the darker side of adoption, and what it takes to heal.

About Janet
Janet Sherlund raised her family and served on nonprofit boards in education, health and the cultural arts before writing her memoir, Abandoned at Birth. Her single most significant life event was being given up for adoption at birth. Being adopted made her feel as though she was living a “borrowed life,” undermined her sense of trust and personal value, and impacted every decision she made. It also led to a lifelong quest to find her biological mother, with the hope of finally feeling a tether to this world, a sense of belonging and ultimately, herself. Her memoir fulfills a lifelong dream of becoming a published author, as well as raising awareness about loss and grief in adoption, and why it takes more than love to survive that trauma. A graduate of Colgate University, Sherlund lives on the island of Nantucket off the coast of Massachusetts with Rick, her husband of 45 years. Abandoned at Birth is Sherlund’s first book.


Monday, May 20, 2024

8:00 - 9:00 PM ET

Grandmothering While Black with Dr. LaShawnDa Pittman

In Grandmothering While Black, sociologist LaShawnDa L. Pittman explores the complex lives of Black grandmothers raising their grandchildren in skipped-generation households (consisting only of grandparents and grandchildren). She prioritizes the voices of Black grandmothers through in-depth interviews and ethnographic research at various sites—doctor's visits, welfare offices, school and day care center appointments, caseworker meetings, and more. Through careful examination, she explores the various forces that compel, constrain, and support Black grandmothers' caregiving.

About LaShawnDa
Dr. Pittman is an Associate Professor of American Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. She is the Joff Hanauer Honors Professor in Western Civilization and has an appointment in the Department of Sociology. Dr. Pittman’s book Grandmothering While Black: A Twenty-First Century Story of Love, Coercion and Survival explores the complex lives of Black grandmothers raising their grandchildren in skipped-generation households.

Dr. Pittman’s scholarship has been published in diverse venues, including Health Equity, The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, Social Science and Medicine, City and Community, and Women, Gender, and Families of Color. Her research on grandparent caregiving and African American families has also been featured in the following edited volumes: Mothering and Black Lives Matter, Relational Poverty Politics!, Health Care for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Across the Lifespan, and The African American Experience: Psychoanalytic Perspectives. Several institutions have funded Dr. Pittman’s work, including the National Science Foundation, Ford Foundation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Northwestern University, Hiram College, and the University of Washington. She is the founder and director of the black digital humanities project—Real Black Grandmothers.

Dr. Pittman is a certified yoga and mindfulness meditation teacher and teaches mindfulness meditation classes to kinship caregivers (and others). In 2022, she was inducted into the Mind and Life Institute Fellow Program where she will “engage and collaborate with a global network of influential leaders committed to contemplative scholarship and practice.”


 

Completed Presentations

Click the button below to find a playlist of over 55 previous recordings. You can watch, or listen along on the go as you would a podcast!