Talking About Race and Adoption – Virtual Training

Facilitators Astrid Castro and Jenna Corriveau will ask participants to explore questions such as, What role do race and racism play in your family? What are the personal experiences that inform how you talk to adopted children in your life about where they are from? Where do you need to grow to be the best resource you can be for children who are adopted? While particularly of relevance to families directly in transracial adoptive families, this conversation will also raise questions of how we talk to children about important issues like race and identity, adoption, and cultural appropriation.

In the confirmation email, all registrants will receive a Zoom platform link to access the virtual training.

Astrid Castro, Director/Founder of Adoption Mosaic, has been serving the community for nearly 30 years through adoption education and support services in both the private and public sectors of adoption. She travels the country to: facilitate adoptee panels, lead youth groups, present workshops on transracial parenting, talking with children about adoption and various other topics. Over the past 13 years, Astrid has presented workshops and panels for the HCAF community (parents, middle schoolers and high schoolers for the African/Caribbean, Indian/Nepalese and the Latin American Heritage Camps). Her lifelong interest in adoption is rooted in her own adoption at the age of four with her older sister from Colombia (2011 reunited with their birth mother).

Jenna Corriveau, MSW, has over 15 years of experience working with children and families. Her work spans from preschool teaching, working with children and families in foster care, practicing therapy and more. She received her MSW in ‘11 with an emphasis in Family Therapy and a Certification in Animal-Assisted Therapy. Her undergraduate degree is in Education. She is also a Certified Synergetic Play Therapist and Parent Coach. Her therapeutic work is informed by interpersonal neurobiology, nervous system regulation, physics, attachment, mindfulness and authenticity. She is currently working with Astrid Castro to help launch the Denver chapter of Adoption Mosaic. Her desire to pursue this work was inspired by her own personal journey as a Colombian Adoptee growing up in a white family. She sees the invaluable importance of offering services to Adoptive parents so that their children grow up with quality support surrounding their true lived realities.