WHO WE ARE

SARA EASTERLY, FOUNDER

SARA EASTERLY is an award-winning author of essays and books that include Adoption Unfiltered^TM: Revelations from Adoptees, Birth Parents, Adoptive Parents, and Allies and her memoir, Searching for Mom. She is founder of Adoptee Voices, and a trained course facilitator and Professional Associate with the Neufeld Institute. Her essays and articles have been published by Dear Adoption, Feminine Collective, Her View From Home, Newsweek, Psychology Today, Red Letter Christians, and Severance magazine, to name a few. Additionally Sara is the co-host of the Adoption Unfiltered video podcast, an extension of her partnership with birth parent Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard and adoptive parent Lori Holden.

For Adoptee Voices, Sara leverages her experience leading one of the largest chapters of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrations (SCBWI), where she was recognized as SCBWI Member of the Year, as well as her background in author publicity supporting multiple New York Times best-selling authors and their publishers.

FACILITATORS

SUSAN DEVAN HARNESS is the author of Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoption and High Plains Book Award winner in the categories of Indigenous Writer and Creative Nonfiction.

A member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, her interest in transracial adoption in general, and American Indian transracial adoption specifically, extends well beyond the academic. She has appeared on the TEDxMileHigh stage (Adopting a Child of a Different Race? Let’s Talk…), and in interviews with Colorado Public Radio, Le Monde, HuffPost, and KALW-San Francisco, among others. Susan’s experience as a keynote speaker, invited conference speaker, and panelist for dozens of organizations has raised awareness in the need for transracial adoption reform.

KATE MURPHY, LCSW was adopted during the Baby Scoop Era. Her long search for family finally yielded results through the wonder of DNA in 2015. Now in reunion, she finds peace and acceptance through connection with other people who were adopted.

Kate is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a psychotherapy practice that specializes in helping people process the unique experience of being adopted. She became a therapist at mid-life. Prior to the career change, she worked at various organizations within positions of leadership. She thrives on helping people find their voice and realize their potential.

ALICE STEPHENS is a mixed-race, first-wave Korean adoptee and author of the novels Famous Adopted People and The Twain: A Tale of Nagasaki (forthcoming in February 2027). She is also a book reviewer, essayist, and short story writer. Her book column, “Alice in Wordland,” appears regularly in the Washington Independent Review of Books. Alice’s work has appeared in LitHub, the Los Angeles Review of Books, The Margins, the Washington Post, various anthologies, and elsewhere. She is currently working on a collection of autofictional short stories about her adoption.

Alice is the co-founder and co-director of the Adoptee Literary Festival and a member of the Starlings Collective. She has been a proud co-facilitator of the Adoptee Voices Writing Group since its inception and regularly facilitates writing workshops at adoptee conferences. Her mission is to encourage adoptee writers to publish their authentic narratives.

NATASHA TRIPPLETT, MSW, a Jewish-Jamaican American author, lives in Northern California where she writes from a treehouse perched in a sycamore tree. As a baby, Natasha was adopted into a Dutch, Christian family. Her multicultural background has allowed her to flow seamlessly through different cultures while bridging gaps that typically divide people.

Natasha is represented by Caryn Wiseman of Andrea Brown Literary Agency and has picture books published by HarperCollins, Chronicle, and WaterBrook. Natasha bubbles with excitement over antiques, chocolate, coffee on the front porch, and cozy movie nights in front of the fireplace with her husband and four children.