INNOVATE!

S04E02: Merchandise on a Conveyer Belt

ReEnvisioning Foster Care Champion, Dakota Roundtree Swain, teaches Sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and is the Diversity & Inclusion Manager at Harvard Medical School. Dakota has a Ph.D. in Social Policy from Brandeis University and uses their understanding of policy to create pathways that help foster care alumni identify their dreams and develop the skills they need to achieve them.  Dakota has a strong desire to help young people who feel a responsibility to change the child welfare system learn about the policies that shaped their experiences in foster care. They do this so youth can understand "the why" behind decisions made on their behalf by legislators and child welfare professionals and move toward healing. Having been a highly engaged youth advocate during their time in foster care, Dakota is working diligently to transform child welfare so that youth who are currently experiencing the system do not feel like “merchandise on a conveyor belt” -  only valued for their stories. *** ABOUT THE HOST: INNOVATE! host, Angela Tucker, is a REFCA Champion and a nationally recognized mentor, entrepreneur, educator and consultant. Angela is a transracial adoptee who, having been adopted from foster care by a white family, grew up in a city that was demographically just 1% Black. She is the Founder of The Adopted Life [https://www.angelatucker.com/], a child-welfare consulting business where she strives to center adoptee stories and bring clarity and truth to narratives about race, class and identity. Angela is the author of You Should Be Grateful: Stories Of Race, Identity, and Transracial Adoption. She has hosted the previous two seasons of INNOVATE!, and currently works as the Executive Director of the Adoptee Mentoring Society. *** Angela Tucker - Host & Producer Nicholas Ramsey - Editor & Producer Judy Cockerton - Executive Producer Beylen Curtis - Research Assistant *** The Treehouse Foundation has been leading the Re-Envisioning Foster Care in America (REFCA) movement since 2010. Please visit www.treehousefoundation.net [http://www.treehousefoundation.net/] for more information about the award-winning work of the Treehouse Team.

S04E01: Belonging: It's Transformational Value

ReEnvisioning Foster Care Champion Gaelin Elmore is a former NFL player who chose to retire from football and become a full-time advocate for children and youth whose lives have been impacted by foster care. A visionary leader who experienced life in our nation’s child welfare system, Gaelin shares his wisdom, lived expertise, and award-winning ideas with child welfare professionals across the country. His frame: Belonging is a fundamental human need. Belonging helps us rise to our potential rather than fall to circumstance. Neuroscientists have found that belonging is connected to the same neuro networks that communicate hunger and thirst. It’s a scientific fact: Humans need to be connected to a group or a community of people who know us and care about us. Gaelin shares with Angela how the people in his life claimed him and helped him overcome the trauma he experienced, and how his belonging defines his advocacy and leadership. *** ABOUT THE HOST: INNOVATE! host, Angela Tucker, is a REFCA Champion and a nationally recognized mentor, entrepreneur, educator and consultant. Angela is a transracial adoptee who, having been adopted from foster care by a white family, grew up in a city that was demographically just 1% Black. She is the Founder of The Adopted Life [https://www.angelatucker.com/], a child-welfare consulting business where she strives to center adoptee stories and bring clarity and truth to narratives about race, class and identity. Angela is the author of You Should Be Grateful: Stories Of Race, Identity, and Transracial Adoption. She has hosted the previous two seasons of INNOVATE!, and currently works as the Executive Director of the Adoptee Mentoring Society. *** Angela Tucker - Host & Producer Nicholas Ramsey - Editor & Producer Judy Cockerton - Executive Producer Beylen Curtis - Research Assistant *** The Treehouse Foundation has been leading the Re-Envisioning Foster Care in America (REFCA) movement since 2010. Please visit www.treehousefoundation.net [http://www.treehousefoundation.net/] for more information about the award-winning work of the Treehouse Team.

S3E10: A More Expansive Definition of Family

Charles and Molly Lerner were adopted by the same parents when they were children. They are siblings by adoption. Today Charles and his husband, who live in Boston, are parenting Molly’s son. They are his adoptive parents. Molly, who lives in Texas, is co-parenting her son with them. Listen in as Angela speaks with Charles and Molly at the 9th national ReEnvisioning Foster Care conference in Boston about what it’s like to co-parent. Their shared journey requires them to confront the reality of their childhoods as well as their present-day lives while they meet the emerging developmental needs of their son.  Charles and Molly offer us a glimpse into a more expansive definition of family in this live interview; a broader frame for kinship adoption and a deeper understanding of how to help a child thrive.  Welcome back to INNOVATE! for Season Three! This season, host Angela Tucker highlights REFCA Champions who are inspiring a Re-Envisioning of Foster Care in America. These visionary leaders are using their wisdom, expertise and lived experiences in foster care to transform child welfare so children and families thrive.  To learn more about INNOVATE!, the Re-Envisioning Foster Care in America (REFCA) Movement and the Treehouse Foundation, go to treehousefoundation.net [http://treehousefoundation.net/]. As always, be sure to like and subscribe to the podcast to be notified when new episodes are released. *** ABOUT THE HOST: INNOVATE! host, Angela Tucker, is a REFCA Champion and a nationally recognized mentor, entrepreneur, educator and consultant. Angela is a transracial adoptee who, having been adopted from foster care by a white family, grew up in a city that was demographically just 1% Black. She is the Founder of The Adopted Life [https://www.angelatucker.com/], a child-welfare consulting business where she strives to center adoptee stories and bring clarity and truth to narratives about race, class and identity. Angela is the author of You Should Be Grateful: Stories Of Race, Identity, and Transracial Adoption. She has hosted the previous two seasons of INNOVATE!, and currently works as the Executive Director of the Adoptee Mentoring Society. *** Angela Tucker - Host & Producer Nicholas Ramsey - Editor & Producer Judy Cockerton - Executive Producer *** The Treehouse Foundation has been leading the Re-Envisioning Foster Care in America (REFCA) movement since 2010. Please visit www.treehousefoundation.net [http://www.treehousefoundation.net/] for more information about the award-winning work of the Treehouse Team.

S3E9: Healing Through Meditation

ReEnvisioning Foster Care Champion Demetrius Napolitano is a passionate advocate for children and young people who are experiencing foster care and their peers in NYC public schools. Using his knowledge of yoga and meditation, plus his lived expertise, he launched a nonprofit called Fostering Meditation to provide concrete skills that enhance the health and well-being of his students.  Demetrius recently presented his compelling yoga and meditation approach at the 9th national ReEnvisioning Foster Care conference at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston. The 2-day event, hosted by the Treehouse Foundation, was a forum where Champions from around the country planned and presented their award-winning ideas. It was the perfect venue for Demetrius to lead conference attendees in morning meditations and for this live interview. Welcome back to INNOVATE! for Season Three! This season, host Angela Tucker highlights REFCA Champions who are inspiring a Re-Envisioning of Foster Care in America. These visionary leaders are using their wisdom, expertise and lived experiences in foster care to transform child welfare so children and families thrive.  To learn more about INNOVATE!, the Re-Envisioning Foster Care in America (REFCA) Movement and the Treehouse Foundation, go to treehousefoundation.net [http://treehousefoundation.net/]. As always, be sure to like and subscribe to the podcast to be notified when new episodes are released. *** ABOUT THE HOST: INNOVATE! host, Angela Tucker, is a REFCA Champion and a nationally recognized mentor, entrepreneur, educator and consultant. Angela is a transracial adoptee who, having been adopted from foster care by a white family, grew up in a city that was demographically just 1% Black. She is the Founder of The Adopted Life [https://www.angelatucker.com/], a child-welfare consulting business where she strives to center adoptee stories and bring clarity and truth to narratives about race, class and identity. Angela is the author of You Should Be Grateful: Stories Of Race, Identity, and Transracial Adoption. She has hosted the previous two seasons of INNOVATE!, and currently works as the Executive Director of the Adoptee Mentoring Society. *** Angela Tucker - Host & Producer Nicholas Ramsey - Editor & Producer Judy Cockerton - Executive Producer *** The Treehouse Foundation has been leading the Re-Envisioning Foster Care in America (REFCA) movement since 2010. Please visit www.treehousefoundation.net [http://www.treehousefoundation.net/] for more information about the award-winning work of the Treehouse Team.

S3E8: Healed People Heal People

2023 REFCA Champion Keri Hope Richmond is a change maker, storyteller, and a passionate advocate for children and families. She is the manager of child welfare policy for the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Executive Director of Unbelievably  Resilient (UR) - a nonprofit that is fully staffed by professionals with lived experience and works to rewrite the foster care narrative. Keri helps people with lived experience not let their foster care experience define them. To move through the pain and to find purpose in it. To find hope, to carry hope, and to heal while dealing with the reality of living in foster care. Keri has been an intern on Capitol Hill and is currently working with the White House and legislators to make meaningful national change for child welfare. She is truly leading the nation forward.   *** We’re excited to let INNOVATE! listeners know we’re going to finish up Season 3 of INNOVATE! at the 9th national Re-Envisioning Foster Care in America conference on November 3rd & 4th in Boston. For the first time ever, we’ll be on stage in front of a live audience and I’ll be interviewing 2 more visionary REFCA Champions to find out how they are using their wisdom, lived experience,  and award-winning ideas to inspire a Re-Envisioning of Foster Care. We hope you’ll join us! REFCA2023 is a two-day event that is being planned AND presented by REFCA Champions from across the country. Please come meet us and hear our visions for creating a more just and equitable child welfare system. Together we can create resources that help children, youth & families thrive. Early Bird Registration will begin shortly. Go to www.treehousefoundation.net for more information. *** ABOUT THE HOST: INNOVATE! host, Angela Tucker, is a REFCA Champion and a nationally recognized mentor, entrepreneur, educator and consultant. Angela is a transracial adoptee who, having been adopted from foster care by a white family, grew up in a city that was demographically just 1% Black. She is the Founder of The Adopted Life [https://www.angelatucker.com/], a child-welfare consulting business where she strives to center adoptee stories and bring clarity and truth to narratives about race, class and identity. Angela is the author of You Should Be Grateful: Stories Of Race, Identity, and Transracial Adoption. She has hosted the previous two seasons of INNOVATE!, and currently works as the Executive Director of the Adoptee Mentoring Society. *** Angela Tucker - Host & Producer Nicholas Ramsey - Editor & Producer Judy Cockerton - Executive Producer *** The Treehouse Foundation has been leading the Re-Envisioning Foster Care in America (REFCA) movement since 2010. Please visit www.treehousefoundation.net [http://www.treehousefoundation.net/] for more information about the award-winning work of the Treehouse Team.