Presenters and Affiliations

Jaclyn Aronson, B.A.
Adult Adoptee

Ravit Avni-Singer, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.
Child Study Center Yale University (Clinical Instructor)
Private Practice in Woodbridge, CT

Amanda L. Baden, Ph.D.
Montclair State University (Assistant Professor); Psychologist, NY

Frank A. Biafora, Ph.D.
St. John’s University (Associate Dean of Graduate Arts and Sciences and Professor)

David Brodzinsky, Ph.D.
Rutgers University (Professor)
Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute (Board of Directors and Senior Research Fellow)

Jane A. Brown, M.S.W.
Adoption Playshops! (Creator and Director)

Lisa E. Brown, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist in private practice New York, NY and Cresskill, NJ

Wei Cao, Ed.D.
FCC Cincinnati member

Olivia Chante Frazier, M.S.
Clarkesville Counseling Inc. (Psychotherapist)
National Counseling, Academic, & Professional Honors Society (CHI SIGMA IOTA member)

Deborah Jill Chitester, M.S., C.C.C., S.L.P.
Second Language Literacy and Learning Connection, CEO

Josie Crolley-Simic, Ph.D.
Western Carolina University (Assistant Professor)

Sonya Corbin Dwyer, Ph.D.
Memorial University of Newfoundland (Associate Professor)
SK Families with Children from Asia (Member)

Raymond DiGuiseppe, Ph.D.
St. John's University (Psychology Department Chairperson and Professor)

Nancy Eng, Ph.D., C.C.C.- S.L.P.
St. John’s University (Associate Professor)

Jeffrey Fagen, Ph.D.
St. John's University (Dean of St. John's College and Professor)

Francine Fishman, L.M.S.W.
Nassau County BOCES

Lynn Gidluck, M.A.
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Saskatchewan office (Executive Director)
Saskatchewan Families with Children from Asia, Newsletter Children’s Bridge Adoption Agency (Volunteer Regional Coordinator)

Boris Gindis, Ph.D.
Psychologist, NY
Center for Cognitive-Developmental Assessment and Remediation (Director)
Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption (Board Member)

Susan Glazer, L.C.S.W.
Psychotherapist

Beth Hall, B.A.
Director of PACT, An Adoption Alliance

Elliotte Harrington
Montclair State University (MS Student)

Deborah Haynor, M.S.W.
Diversity Matters (Co-founder & Consultant)

Kathleen Hushion, L.C.S.W.
Psychotherapist in NYC and Huntington, Long Island
Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research (IPTAR) (Member)
Children’s Hope International (Contract Social Worker)

Susan Ito, MFA
Pact, an Adoption Alliance

Kathleen Ja Sook Berquist, Ph.D.
University of Nevada

Rafael A. Javier, Ph.D., A.B.P.P.
St. John's University (Director of Post Graduate Professional Development Programs)

Jae Ran Kim, M.S.W.
University of Minnesota

Lisa Langer, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist in Private Practice, Roslyn, NY

Betty Jean Lifton, Ph.D.
Adoption counselor in Cambridge, MA and NYC, NY

Joyce Maguire Pavao, Ed.D., L.C.S.W., L.M.F.T. 
Center for Family Connections (Founder and CEO)
Harvard Medical School (Instructor)

Richard Massatti, M.S.W.
Ohio Department of Mental Health (Mental Health Program Evaluator)

Krista McCoy, M.S.W.
ABJ Community Services (Foster Case Management Supervisor)

Hollee McGinnis, M.S.S.W.
Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute (Policy and Operations Director)

Patrick P. McGuire, Ed.D.
St. John’s University (Assistant Dean & Professor)

Ruth G. McRoy, Ph.D.
University of Texas at Austin (Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professor Emerita)

Dani Meier, Ph.D.
Private Practice, Psychotherapist.  School Social Worker, Jackson (MI) Public Schools

Lorie A. Miller, M.B.A.
Diversity Matters (Co-founder & Consultant)

Katherine Jae Naftzger, L.I.C.S.W.
Boston Korean Adoptees (Member)

Kim Park Nelson
University of Minnesota (Ph.D. Candidate)

Susan O’Connor Harris, M.S.W.
Director of Family Services at Children’s Services of Rosbury, Inc.

John D. Palmer, Ph.D.
Colgate University (Assistant Professor)

Pauline Park, Ph.D.
New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA) (Chair)
Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) (Vice-President)

Nancy Kim Parsons, M.F.A.
Adult Korean Adoptee. Documentary Film Maker

Mary Anne Pitman, Ph.D.
University of Cincinnati (Professor)

Jane Platt, Ph.D.
New York University School of Medicine (Research Associate Professor)
Families with Children from China (Member)
Psychologist in Private  Practice

John Raible, Ed.D.
Multicultural Educator and Adoption Researcher; Adoptee and Adoptive Parent

Barbara A. Rall, L.C.S.W.
NJ Adoption Resource Clearing House (Manager)
Clinical Social Worker in Private Practice

Julie Randolph, M.S.W., J.D.
Pact, An Adoption Alliance

Jeremy Robbi,  M.A.
Transracial Adult Adoptee, Presenter

Maribeth Rourke, L.C.S.W.
Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research IPTAR (Member and Supervisor)

Martha Satz, Ph.D.
Southern Methodist University (Assistant Professor)

Susan B. Sherman, D.S.W.
Psychoanalyst and Psychotherapist in NY
Understanding Adoption: Clinical Work with Adults, Children and Parents (co-editor)  

Diana Siskind, M.S.W.
Psychotherapist in NYC

Rita Taddonio, L.C.S.W. 
Spence-Chapin Services for Children and Families (Director of Post- Adoption Resource Center)

Julia A. Upton, R.S.M., Ph.D.
St. John’s University (Provost)

M. Elizabeth Vonk, M.S.W., Ph.D.
University of Georgia (Associate Professor)
Families with Children from China (Member)

Carol Weitzman, M.D.
Yale University School of Medicine (Pediatrics)

Kevin Wickes, Ph.D.
Mercer University (Associate Professor)