The Rambler

Born in South Korea, but raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, Emily is a Korean adoptee, who from a young age, has been involved with the Korean adoptee community in Minnesota and abroad. As a university student at the University of St. Thomas, she was involved with the Office of International Student Services, ELS Language Center, Children’s Home Society and Family Services, and the Minnesota Literacy Council. After graduating Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Communication Studies, she spent two years working as a Fulbright grantee in Korea (Pyeongchang and Pohang), and completed her Masters program with the Korean Language Flagship Center at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Emily has also worked at a Korean language immersion camp for Concordia Language Villages. She is interested in education and language acquisition, gender equality, and immigrant/refugee rights. In her spare time, she enjoys running, yoga, watching movies and K-Dramas, and reading anything that finds its way into her hands (a novel, newspaper article, or blog of random facts).  She is the Advocacy Director at NAKASEC (nakasec.org) and can be reached at [email protected].  

Songs from A Collective Effort are available at SoundCloud (Http://soundcloud.com/acollectiveeffortmusic/sets/a-collective-effort-mix-bag) and other music of the podcast comes courtesy of Needle Drop Records by The Bell.  Also featured today is "Long Live the Chief" by Jidenna from Epic Records, a subdivision of Sony.  

Follow me on Twitter @TheRamblerADHD, email me at [email protected], and like/share me on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheRamblerADHD.  If you like the podcast, please be so kind as to leave a nice review on iTunes.  Thanks for listening!

Michelle Madrid-Branch is an author, speaker, and global advocate for women and children. She is the author of Adoption Means Love: Triumph of the Heart and the children's book, The Tummy Mummy. Connect with Michelle on Twitter @LetHerBeGreater, Instagram, or on Facebook. To learn more about Michelle, please visit MichelleMadridBranch.com.

Songs from A Collective Effort are available at SoundCloud (Http://soundcloud.com/acollectiveeffortmusic/sets/a-collective-effort-mix-bag) and other music of the podcast comes courtesy of Needle Drop Records by The Bell.

Follow me on Twitter @TheRamblerADHD, email me at [email protected], and like/share me on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheRamblerADHD.  If you like the podcast, please be so kind as to leave a nice review on iTunes.  Thanks for listening!

Linda Rogers was adopted from Korea when she was 2 1/2 years old, and she has lived in Minnesota since then.  A little over 3 years ago she made contact with her biological family, and continue to have a relationship with them.  Linda is a mother of three, and enjoys spending time with family and friends.  You can find her on Facebook.

Songs from A Collective Effort are available at SoundCloud (Http://soundcloud.com/acollectiveeffortmusic/sets/a-collective-effort-mix-bag) and other music of the podcast comes courtesy of Needle Drop Records by The Bell.

Follow me on Twitter @TheRamblerADHD, email me at [email protected], and like/share me on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheRamblerADHD.  If you like the podcast, please be so kind as to leave a nice review on iTunes.  Thanks for listening!

Sarah Eldred is a Korean adoptee who resides in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is a free spirit who enjoys anything creative, writing, art, storytelling. Currently, she is working at Minnesota Public Radio in the development department with a goal to move into the production side of things.  Eldred writes a blog about music theinvisibleinstigator.tumblr.com and she also had a daily blog about yoga yearoftheyogi.tumblr.com.  She is also working on producing her first radio program about the Korean adoption experience which will be aired on KFAI on October 23rd.  You can find it online at http://kfai.org/waveproject and you can follow her on Twitter or Instagram @thesaraheldred.

Songs from A Collective Effort are available at SoundCloud (Http://soundcloud.com/acollectiveeffortmusic/sets/a-collective-effort-mix-bag) and other music of the podcast comes courtesy of Needle Drop Records by The Bell and Jacquelyn Wells at BandCamp (https://jacquelynwells.bandcamp.com).

Follow me on Twitter @TheRamblerADHD, email me at [email protected], and like/share me on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheRamblerADHD.  If you like the podcast, please be so kind as to leave a nice review on iTunes.  Thanks for listening!

A.J. Bryant is an adult adoptee, who was born in Kerala, South India and adopted to the US in 1980.  He holds a unique perspective, growing up in a transracial household as an Indian male adoptee.  He has a brother and a sister, also adopted from India, but they are not biological connections.  He grew up in Madison, WI and Northern New Jersey.  He now lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife Sasmita and infant daughter Sonali. 

He’s been active in the adoption community since 2006, and has spoken on panels, at conferences and to college classrooms. He’s a member of the Lost Sarees, an Indian Adoptee organization and part of the Adoptee Rights campaign, working to pass legislation giving US citizenship to all international adoptees.

He can be found on Twitter @adoptedkeralite and blogs about adoption, contemporary India and his intercultural marriage at www.worldcitizensblog.com.

Songs from A Collective Effort are available at SoundCloud (Http://soundcloud.com/acollectiveeffortmusic/sets/a-collective-effort-mix-bag) and other music of the podcast comes courtesy of Needle Drop Records by The Bell.

Follow me on Twitter @TheRamblerADHD, email me at [email protected], and like/share me on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheRamblerADHD.  If you like the podcast, please be so kind as to leave a nice review on iTunes.  Thanks for listening!

The Lees are a husband/wife team who happen to both be Korean adoptees. This commonality brings a lot of unique dynamics to their marriage, their understanding of each other, & their interactions with others. They currently reside in Nashville, TN.

About Lee

Lee was adopted at four months of age from Busan, South Korea.  He has never met his birth family or started a search for them yet.  Lee married a Korean adoptee who has been in post reunion with her birth family.  He met Whitney’s birth family back in 2014 for the first time and has had the opportunity to begin developing a strong relationship with them even to this day.  He is extremely fortunate to have the opportunity of seeing firsthand how an adoptee in post reunion and her family interact daily while being so far apart.  Lee hopes to learn from this experience and be able to apply it to his own potential birth family search in the future.  For now, he is content with continuing to build his relationship with Whitney’s family and discuss adoption issues with people from all around the world.

About Whitney

Upon moving to Korea for work after finishing her Bachelor’s degree, Whitney was given the unexpected opportunity to reunite with her birth family and begin to develop relationships with that nuclear core, as well as a large extended family. Six years later, she maintains regular contact with them and has experienced all of the ups and downs of navigating the complexities and dynamics of these relationships. Whitney has made every attempt to remain an open book throughout the experience in an effort to offer a perspective to adoptees and their families about what a birth family reunion can look like. She is quick to emphasize that she is not adoption expert and that her experience is just that – her experience. Adoption is such a uniquely personal thing that varies according to any number of factors (individual, family, cultural, etc.) and everyone has their own unique story.

You can check out their blog, “We the Lees,” at wethelees.wordpress.com or on Twitter @WeTheLees.

You can ALSO check out China’s Children International’s Interview with ME from this past week on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxM1WUF_m9c)!  I was honored to be asked to chat with them and share a little of my story; so if you’re interested in that, be sure to check it out.

Songs from A Collective Effort are available at SoundCloud (Http://soundcloud.com/acollectiveeffortmusic/sets/a-collective-effort-mix-bag) and other music of the podcast comes courtesy of Needle Drop Records by The Bell, John Williams, and Muse at Warner Music UK.

Follow me on Twitter @TheRamblerADHD, email me at [email protected], and like/share me on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheRamblerADHD.  If you like the podcast, please be so kind as to leave a nice review on iTunes.  Thanks for listening!

The Lees are a husband/wife team who happen to both be Korean adoptees. This commonality brings a lot of unique dynamics to their marriage, their understanding of each other, & their interactions with others. They currently reside in Nashville, TN.

About Lee

Lee was adopted at four months of age from Busan, South Korea.  He has never met his birth family or started a search for them yet.  Lee married a Korean adoptee who has been in post reunion with her birth family.  He met Whitney’s birth family back in 2014 for the first time and has had the opportunity to begin developing a strong relationship with them even to this day.  He is extremely fortunate to have the opportunity of seeing firsthand how an adoptee in post reunion and her family interact daily while being so far apart.  Lee hopes to learn from this experience and be able to apply it to his own potential birth family search in the future.  For now, he is content with continuing to build his relationship with Whitney’s family and discuss adoption issues with people from all around the world.

About Whitney

Upon moving to Korea for work after finishing her Bachelor’s degree, Whitney was given the unexpected opportunity to reunite with her birth family and begin to develop relationships with that nuclear core, as well as a large extended family. Six years later, she maintains regular contact with them and has experienced all of the ups and downs of navigating the complexities and dynamics of these relationships. Whitney has made every attempt to remain an open book throughout the experience in an effort to offer a perspective to adoptees and their families about what a birth family reunion can look like. She is quick to emphasize that she is not adoption expert and that her experience is just that – her experience. Adoption is such a uniquely personal thing that varies according to any number of factors (individual, family, cultural, etc.) and everyone has their own unique story.

You can check out their blog, “We the Lees,” at wethelees.wordpress.com or on Twitter @WeTheLees.

You can ALSO check out China’s Children International’s Interview with ME from this past week on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxM1WUF_m9c)!  I was honored to be asked to chat with them and share a little of my story; so if you’re interested in that, be sure to check it out.

Songs from A Collective Effort are available at SoundCloud (Http://soundcloud.com/acollectiveeffortmusic/sets/a-collective-effort-mix-bag) and other music of the podcast comes courtesy of Needle Drop Records by The Bell, John Williams, and Muse at Warner Music UK.

Follow me on Twitter @TheRamblerADHD, email me at [email protected], and like/share me on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheRamblerADHD.  If you like the podcast, please be so kind as to leave a nice review on iTunes.  Thanks for listening!

Jonathan LeBrecque is currently living in Washington, DC and working for the government in international development within the area of HIV/AIDS.  He grew up in Springfield, MA, with three siblings:  an older sister and two younger brothers.  Jon went to college in Providence, RI and studying abroad for a year in England before going to graduate school in Boston.  He has become more active in adoptee circles after having moved to Boston and now DC.  He just attended the IKAA Gathering 2016 in Korea!  You can find him on LinkedIn, Facebook (facebook.com/kantanan25).  

You can ALSO check out China’s Children International’s Interview with ME from this past week on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxM1WUF_m9c)!  I was honored to be asked to chat with them and share a little of my story; so if you’re interested in that, be sure to check it out.

Songs from A Collective Effort are available at SoundCloud (Http://soundcloud.com/acollectiveeffortmusic/sets/a-collective-effort-mix-bag) and other music of the podcast comes courtesy of Needle Drop Records by The Bell, John Williams, and Muse at Warner Music UK.

Follow me on Twitter @TheRamblerADHD, email me at [email protected], and like/share me on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheRamblerADHD.  If you like the podcast, please be so kind as to leave a nice review on iTunes.  Thanks for listening!

Songs from A Collective Effort are available at SoundCloud (Http://soundcloud.com/acollectiveeffortmusic/sets/a-collective-effort-mix-bag) and other music of the podcast comes courtesy of Needle Drop Records by The Bell.

Follow me on Twitter @TheRamblerADHD, email me at [email protected], and like/share me on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheRamblerADHD.  If you like the podcast, please be so kind as to leave a nice review on iTunes.  Thanks for listening!

Kira Omans is an actress, model, and non-profit spokesperson from Washington D.C.  At twenty years old, she is also the youngest and the first adoptee to be crowned 2015 Pacific Miss Asian American.  You can like her Facebook page at Facebook.com/KiraEmilyOmans.

Songs from A Collective Effort are available at SoundCloud (Http://soundcloud.com/acollectiveeffortmusic/sets/a-collective-effort-mix-bag) and other music of the podcast comes courtesy of Needle Drop Records by The Bell, John Williams, and Muse at Warner Music UK.

Follow me on Twitter @TheRamblerADHD, email me at [email protected], and like/share me on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheRamblerADHD.  If you like the podcast, please be so kind as to leave a nice review on iTunes.  Thanks for listening!