Dear NPA community,
2024 was a busy year for the Network of Politicized Adoptees (NPA)! As the calendar year comes to a close, NPA welcomes the opportunity for reflection on the ways we’ve shown up for each other and the broader adoptee community.
2024 was a busy year for the Network of Politicized Adoptees (NPA)! As the calendar year comes to a close, NPA welcomes the opportunity for reflection on the ways we’ve shown up for each other and the broader adoptee community.
Our 2023 Highlights
- We launched our first-ever NPA Community Conversation event. It was a space to explore the complexities of grief and death as adoptees. This conversation was sparked by the recent death of Helen, who was part of NPA’s community class a couple years ago. We felt that carving out this space for NPA’s network was one of the best ways we could honor Helen’s memory. We appreciate those of you who helped co-create this meaningful space with us in the spring.
- We stretched our advocacy muscle in new ways this summer. NPA joined other nationally-recognized adoptee advocates to speak to the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) Commissioners. We then contributed to a written statement corresponding to our remarks which you can read here.
- We were happy to see so many of you in spaces hosted by fellow adoptee organizations. We presented at the Inter Country Adoptee Voices (ICAV) Virtual Adoptee org Fair, led a workshop on “Finding Identity Within the Adoptee Narrative” at KAAN in Chicago, led a session on “Reflections on Sustaining a Politicized Adoptee-led Organization” at Adoptee United Inc’s mini conference in Minneapolis, and led conversations on “Intersectionality within the Adoptee Identity” at AdopteeBridge’s fall retreat.
This year, we also focused on building our relationships with each other on the steering committee through our winter and fall retreats and socials. We found ways to support each other outside of NPA as well. It’s been fun to celebrate milestone birthdays, job transitions, graduations, and a 1-year-old’s Dol party. We also cared for each other through the shock and grief of a death in the community. Many of us even attended the funeral together. We make space to feel and process with each other and hope this for the broader adoptee community as well.
Looking Forward to 2025
We know that thinking about 2025 and beyond may bring anxiety, anger, and fear for many folks given the broader political environment. Us too, AND at NPA, we are committed to providing alternative spaces that foster connection, joy, truth-telling, and social justice. A couple things to look forward to:
We know that thinking about 2025 and beyond may bring anxiety, anger, and fear for many folks given the broader political environment. Us too, AND at NPA, we are committed to providing alternative spaces that foster connection, joy, truth-telling, and social justice. A couple things to look forward to:
- We are excited to host our capstone storytelling event in the new year. Save the date of May 3, 2024 for our More Kinds of Awesome adoptee-centered storytelling event, taking place in-person in the Twin Cities. Our NPA steering committee member, Julia Gay, will be the artist working with each of our storytellers for our third iteration of this event. More to come about our storytellers!
- We’re excited to bring back our signature NPA Community Class on the Histories and Cultures of Transracial Adoption in the US led by Dr. Kim Park Nelson. Stay tuned for how to apply for the fall!
Support our work!
Want more NPA created spaces in 2025? Please consider supporting our work in the new year by donating to NPA. You can donate directly to NPA through our Venmo account. Please reach out to us if you would like to donate but need an alternative method to do so. As an organization that is not a nonprofit or fiscally sponsored and made up of all volunteers, we rely solely on individual donations. Another way to give is to buy one of a limited number of NPA t-shirts.
We hope that you find rest and laughter this holiday and Winter Solstice season. Reply to this email to let us know how you’d like to be more involved with our work as we look to the new year. We read all of your messages.
Want more NPA created spaces in 2025? Please consider supporting our work in the new year by donating to NPA. You can donate directly to NPA through our Venmo account. Please reach out to us if you would like to donate but need an alternative method to do so. As an organization that is not a nonprofit or fiscally sponsored and made up of all volunteers, we rely solely on individual donations. Another way to give is to buy one of a limited number of NPA t-shirts.
We hope that you find rest and laughter this holiday and Winter Solstice season. Reply to this email to let us know how you’d like to be more involved with our work as we look to the new year. We read all of your messages.
Thank you for being in community with us!
NPA Steering Committee
(Margie/Eun Joo, Kurt, Katherine, Julia, Mari & Lindsay)
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.npa-mn.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/npamn
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/npa.mn
NPA Steering Committee
(Margie/Eun Joo, Kurt, Katherine, Julia, Mari & Lindsay)
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.npa-mn.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/npamn
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/npa.mn