2021 CONNECTION is proud to announce Angela Tucker as the keynote speaker. Angela is a filmmaker, educator, and consultant, who was trans-racially adopted. She has spent her career ensuring adoptee voices are heard and valued. Angela is the creator of a blog and web-series, The Adopted Life, a podcast called The Adoptee Next Door, and a feature film, Closure, that documents her search for and reunion with her birth family in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

In her own words: “At birth I became a ward of the state, was diagnosed with Spastic Quadriplegia, and I was labeled a ‘Failure to Thrive.’ I was placed in foster care in Tennessee, before being adopted by a white family in Bellingham, Washington – a city where just 1% of the population is Black. I have seven siblings – all adopted except for one and had many foster siblings, foreign exchange students and extended family who also lived in our home. My unique upbringing has encouraged an expansive and inclusive definition of family and has led me to my mission; to center adoptees.” – Angela Tucker

 Find out more about Angela and her work at her website: angelatucker.com