We sit down with Ayana Smith-Kooiman, the legislative assistant to Sen. Erin Maye Quade in Minnesota. Ayana was the behind-the-scenes and front-desk staffer directly supporting Sen. Maye Quade's adoptee rights bill in 2023, ultimately getting it enacted. She's a Wisconsin-born adopted person, a Macalester College graduate, and a former advocacy fellow with Gender Justice in Minnesota. She talks about her work in the legislature as well as what does and doesn't work in advocacy.

More information about the enacted Minnesota legislation is here. The Minnesota Coalition for Adoption Reform was one of the organizations that had worked on the bill tirelessly for decades. Greg and Penelope Needham of MCAR also appeared on a podcast discussing the efforts to pass the new law: How to Succeed, Part 1.