Kathleen Shea Kirstein is a same-race, domestic infant adoptee born in VT and adopted out to NH, where she still resides. She is a retired registered nurse, artist, and writer. She discovered her adoption late in life and also found via DNA that she had a not parent expected(NPE) event. She has found healing within the adoption community and understands the importance of Peer Support. She is a co-facilitator of Adoptees Connect, Derry, NH, and is also a co-facilitator of AKA’s First Friday Adoptees Peer Support group. A collector of first names since learning about her adoption, she is also known as Wendy Kathleen Janet (WKJ).

Rachel Rosenthal (she/her) is a first mother, an adoptive mother, and an intra family adoptee.  She values the support and services AKA can provide to all members of the adoption constellation, having first hand experience in each of the realms.  Rachel lives in Western North Carolina, and is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor. She enjoys spending time with her four children, going on long walks with her husband, and reading.

Lora K. Joy/Lora Alegria is a domestic, same race adoptee. She is fully estranged from her adoptive family and reunited with both maternal and paternal biological family. In 2022, she legally changed her name back to her birth name and Lora’s biological mom reclaimed her through an adult adoption. Lora has self-published 3 illustrated books and a blog at www.myadopteetruth.com. She also co-led the publishing of the adoptee anthology The Flourish Experience.

Lora is the Secretary of Adoptees for Family Preservation, a nonprofit organization committed to raising awareness of adoption industry practices. Lora co-leads a peer support group on estrangement through Adoption Knowledge Affiliates. And since October 2023 she has worked as a Virtual Assistant for the Adoptees On podcast.

You may contact Lora via e-mail at lora@myadopteetruth.com.  You may also email from the website www.myadopteetruth.com.

Dianne Sonnenberg

Dianne Sonnenberg is an international multicultural adoptee (Ojibwe/Dutch) and artist who has been active in the AKA community for several years. She values the services that AKA provides, has benefited greatly from her participation, and has a strong desire to support others in their own journeys. She reunited with her extended biological family and First Nations tribal community in 2013-2014. While feeling intense joys, deep heartaches, and every emotion in between, Dianne has uncovered a strong sense of self and “belonging” in connecting with her culture and community, as well as her newly found family connections. She understands many of the traumas, nuances, and challenges that multi/cross cultural adoptees encounter, and strives to help create a safe space for participants to share openly and honestly. She expresses her own emotions through her artwork, and finds that the creative process, however one chooses to engage, can be incredibly healing. (See some of her work on her Instagram page: @DianneSonnenberg)

Dianne holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Michigan.  She has been married since 1989, an Austin, TX resident since 1992, and has two grown children. Dianne also serves on the boards of the Austin Mosaic Guild (President) and the Texas Society of Sculptors. Dianne is a facilitator for our multi/cross cultural group.

Sheri Williams

Sheri Williams is the Associate Vice President of Human Resources with the Texas Medical Association in Austin, TX. I was 15 years old when I relinquished my son to a closed adoption in 1980 and was reunited with him in 2007. Through the Edna Gladney registry and the one-hour counseling mandate prior to reunion, I was directed to AKA where I began the slow and emotional journey of discovering that it’s ok to talk about adoption, and that birth parents deserve a seat at the table. This discovery, along with AKA’s support and the love of my son’s amazing family, has led me to a path of resilience, forgiveness and love.