Events

What do you think of when you hear the word “Found”? Also-Known-As is excited to host a Q&A with Lily Bolka (IG: @lilybolka) and Sadie Mangelsdorf (IG: @sadiemangelsdorf), two Chinese transracial adoptees from the documentary, Found. This adoptee-only online event will allow Lily and Sadie to share their experiences with returning to their birth country beyond what is seen in the film. We will explore their relationships with each other, their adoptive identities, and what “found” means to them. There will be time at the end for audience questions.‍

Lily Bolka - Lily is 23 years old and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She is a proud Cowboy and graduated from Oklahoma State University with a BS in Accounting. Lily loves hanging with her friends, watching “Modern Family” and enjoys a good, fruity cocktail loaded with festive garnishes.

Sadie Mangelsdorf - Sadie is 18 years old and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. She loves being active and does yoga and goes running. She also loves going out with friends, cooking, and baking. Sadie is a cat lover; her cats’ names are Thomas and Mitski. True to her adoring spirit for felines, she is a proud Wildcat at University of Arizona.

RSVP by Thursday April 13th!

Let your artistic creativity sore with Also-Known-As as we head over to The Paint Place for a late afternoon paint n’ sip. The Paint Place will provide everything we need for this event; however, all alcoholic beverages are BYOB. Please limit to wine, beer, or hard seltzers, and feel free to also bring non-alcoholic beverages and snacks. Afterwards we will grab a bite and beverages locally. With only 25 spots available, please fill out the RSVP google forms and pay $40 to @alsoknownas via Venmo. Only then will your RSVP be submitted. We can’t wait to see you there!

SAVE THE DATE! Also-Known-As, Chinese Adoptee Alliance, IAMAdoptee and Adoptees of South America + Extended Latin America are excited to present Tea Time with adoptee scholar Hollee McGinnis, MSW, PhD to share more about “Mapping the Life Course of Adoption Project (MAP)”.

MAP is a national adoptee-led and community-engaged project aimed at mapping the life course of adoption in adulthood and the role of adoptee-led groups/connections as a resource for thriving adulthoods.

We encourage you to join us to support Hollee and her team’s efforts in order for all adoptees to leverage their findings for generations to come.

TAKE THE SURVEY NOW HERE:

https://www.caare-research.org/updates/take-the-survey-mapping-the-life-course-of-adoption-project-launch

During this intimate adoptee-only virtual writing workshop facilitated by Heather Schultz Gittens, we will explore a variety of prompts. Building upon past workshops, the focal area of this experience will be to build on the theme of what we as adoptees wish those in our lives had known more of in order to better support us on our journeys.

Also-Known-As is hosting another Happy Hour at Draught 55 in midtown on Thurs. March 16th from 6pm - 9pm! We invite you to come socialize, meet new people / reconnect with old friends, and hangout with us. Everyone is welcome, so come say hi and bring your friends!

Please join us for another discussion in our Reclamation Series surrounding the topic of Birthland. We will be having three guest panelists, Amanda Sparso, Ryan Dritz and Darci Siegel, share their unique experience in relation to Birthland as well as opening space and discussion for sharing and reflection unique to all transnational adoptees. Light food and drink will be provided.

Hello adoptees and friends! February is upon us! We are thrilled to share this month's Happy Hour collaboration between adoptee organizations: Also-Known-As and Chinese Adoptee Alliance. We hope to see both familiar faces and new faces alike as we build and strengthen adoptee networks and communities!

Happy Hour deals run until 8pm! DM with any questions you may have. Can't wait to see you!

The 2023 International Korean Adoptee Association (IKAA) Gathering will be held July 10-16, 2023 in Seoul, South Korea. Join us on Wednesday, January 25, 2023 from 6:30-8:30 at Women Make Movies 115 W 29th St, New York, NY 10001 to learn more about the gathering from planning committee members and past attendees. Past participants will share their experiences and the impact of attending these international conferences and attendees should bring their questions to learn more about the planning and programming for this year.

About IKAA: The International Korean Adoptees Association (IKAA) creates opportunities for Korean adoptees to establish meaningful connections, share information, and acknowledge our lived experiences as individuals and as a community. The IKAA network was the first of its kind, bringing together adoptee organizations from around the world to work side by side to create an organizational structure that can produce large-scale events and programs. Since then, the Adoptee Community overall has come a long way in grassroots community building, post adoption services, and advocacy. Adoptee-led organizations have been operating for 35+ years around the world.

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Also-Known-As is excited to celebrate the publication of Between Two Worlds (Entre Dos Mundos), a special issue of Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis from Next Generation Guatemala. Featuring co-editors Gemma Givens and Carly Tagen-Dye, this free and virtual event will include a reading of their work, a discussion of the writing process, and a reflection on the publication’s significance to the Guatemalan adoptees and the broader international adoptee community.

Additional guest speakers include José Mario Dellow, Antonio Giannico, Thom LaPorte, and Leah Wall.

Speaker Bios:

Gemma Givens: Gemma Givens is the founder of Next Generation Guatemala (NGG). Her story has been covered by the Associated Press, Nomada Magazine, UC Berkeley News, and Emmy Award winning documentary, The Lost Children of Guatemala, by Telemundo. Gemma was a speaker for the forum, Volverte a Ver, Niñez Desaparecida en Guatemala hosted by Grupo Apoyo Mutuo, guest lecturer for the Vanderbilt GuateSeminar, UCLA course, Indigenous Diasporas: Adoption, and presented at the conference, 200 Years of CentralAmerica in the World/200 Jahre Unabhängigkeit Zentralamerikas in Berlin. NGG received an honorable mention in the new ideas for nonprofit organizations category for the 2020 Emprendete Guatemala competition.‍

Carly Tagen-Dye: Carly Tagen-Dye is a writer and editor based in New York City. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The Augment Review, NY Press, Alma and The Sock Drawer, among other outlets. Her short story, "At The Water's Edge," was a winner of the 2021 Rehoboth Beach Reads Short Story Contest, and her novel, All That You Can See, was a finalist for CRAFT's 2022 First Chapters Prize. She has done editorial/reader work for The Brooklyn Rail, 826NYC, Patchwork Literary Magazine, and Maya America Journal.

As we wrap up 2022, we are already looking ahead to 2023. Also-Known-As is kicking off the new year with a Lunar New Year Food Crawl. Join us on Saturday, January 7th (rain date: Sunday, January 8th) as we scout for the best foods Chinatown has to offer. We will be meeting at Canal Street Market (265 Canal St, New York, NY 10013) at 1:00pm and then kick off the food tour. We will be visiting Tai Pan Bakery, Mei Lai Wah, Shujiao Fuzhou, and finishing with l’Milky. Please consider bringing cash, as some places may not accept credit cards, and weather-dependant warm layers. We cannot wait to ring in the new year with delicious food and treats with both new and familiar faces! For the Tour Map and more information, click here.