Greetings!
The Adoption Community of New England, Inc. Board of Directors and the 2010 Conference Committee invite you to the 37th Annual New England Adoption Conference. We are pleased to continue our strong tradition of bringing together hundreds of people touched by adoption to learn, support each other, and exchange ideas and information about adoption at the largest single day adoption conference in the United States. Whether you are a conference veteran or a first time registrant, we are confident that you will find workshops and resources that will meet your needs.
We are very excited to present Debbie B. Riley, M.S. as this year's keynote speaker and featured workshop presenter. Ms. Riley is the Executive Director of the Center for Adoption Support and Education, Inc. (C.A.S.E.), a non-profit organization that provides post-adoption services to families, educators, and adoption professionals. With John Meeks, Ph.D., Ms. Riley co-authored Beneath the Mask: Understanding Adopted Teens. The conference theme, Glimpses Beneath the Masks, applies Ms. Riley's concepts to other triad members.
This year's conference will include dozens of exhibitors — adoption service providers, support organizations, and vendors with goods of interest to the adoption community. Children of the World, LLC will again sponsor the conference bookstore, providing often hard-to-find, adoption-related and multi-cultural books and music. ACONE members may bring their extended family and members of their own adoption triad at the member's fee. This is a great way to learn together and to educate grandparents, aunts, uncles, and the rest of the clan, as well as extended family-to-be.
There are over 85 workshops this year. We have a mix of workshops on tried and true topics with established presenters as well as workshops on new topics to help you navigate the changing world of adoption. Whether you are an adoptive parent seeking to learn more about parenting your child, a birth parent interested in search and reunion, an adopted person interested in returning to your country of origin, a professional looking to hone your skills, or a prospective adopter seeking to discover whether adoption is a good choice for you, this conference has workshops of interest. We have coded workshops to describe their intended audience and have suggested tracks to assist you in your workshop selection.
We hope you will come to the conference to learn, share, and grow. We trust that you will find the day to be a fulfilling and energizing experience.
Adoption Community of New England, Inc.
Board of Directors
2010 Conference Committee
