Today we’d like to introduce you to Liana Soifer.

Hi Liana, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

As a Korean transracial adoptee and Co-Founder of VOICES, a BIPOC Adoptee Community (aka BIPOC Adoptees VOICES), I grew up navigating deep questions around identity, belonging, race, and truth—often in spaces that didn’t reflect or understand my experience. Like so many adoptees who identify under the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) umbrella, I rarely saw myself represented, and the dominant narratives around adoption never quite fit. I wasn’t alone in feeling this.

Our organization began as a grassroots collective of BIPOC adoptees who came together out of a shared need for community, mutual aid, and care. We were tired of being erased from the story—tired of adoption being framed solely around saviorism or adoptive parents, while the voices of those most impacted were silenced. We knew we needed to build something different.

What started as a few gatherings and healing spaces quickly grew into a broader movement. We launched storytelling events, created trauma-informed curriculum with adoptee professionals, partnered with institutions, and hosted a national conference—all while staying 100% volunteer-led.

Today, we’re still rooted in that original vision: to center Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) adoptees, challenge harmful systems, and build spaces that affirm, connect, and heal. We’re growing with integrity, and we’re just getting started.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

No, it definitely hasn’t been a smooth road—especially when your work challenges some of the most deeply embedded myths in society. One of the biggest struggles we face is disrupting harmful adoption narratives that prioritize adoptive parents, overlook trauma, and ignore the lived realities of adoptees. We serve adoptees who are at the intersection of race and adoptee identity – who identify under the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

Adoption is often painted as a one-dimensional story of rescue and gratitude. But that narrative erases so much. It erases the grief of separation, the complexity of identity, and the systemic issues that shape who gets adopted and why. When you begin to understand the interaction of race and adoptee identity, it becomes clear that there are layers of invisibility and harm that are rarely acknowledged.

We are challenging systems that weren’t built to center us. We are challenging narratives that erase us. And we’re doing it with heart, truth, and community. This work is personal and collective. And while it’s hard, we’re not going anywhere. We’re here to reclaim our stories, build spaces of care, and reimagine what healing and justice look like.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

We’re a grassroots nonprofit led entirely by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) adoptees. Our work is centered on storytelling, healing, and justice, with a focus on the intersection of race and adoptee identity. We serve BIPOC adoptees, descendants of adoptees, and BIPOC individuals with lived experience in foster care—across domestic, international, and kinship contexts.

What sets us apart is our refusal to replicate adoption agency models or reinforce savior-based narratives. We are not here to make adoption more comfortable—we’re here to tell the truth, build power, and create alternatives rooted in community care. From wellness workshops and conference to educational trainings and a soon-to-launch digital platform, everything we do is informed by lived experience and built by us, for us.

We know this work can’t be done in isolation. That’s why we’ve formed long-standing partnerships with community allies who support or serve BIPOC adoptees. In collaboration with adoptee professionals, we’ve developed an educational curriculum that focuses specifically on the mental health needs of adult BIPOC adoptees—an area that has long been overlooked.

Our work is recognized by institutions and validated by the Oregon Department of Human Services, Child Welfare Division, and by Portland State University’s College of Education. These partners have acknowledged that our work fills a critical gap in the field, offering culturally relevant education and resources for those working directly with BIPOC adoptee youth, including current and former BIPOC foster youth.

We are actively providing resources directly to our community through conferences, workshops, storytelling events, and local meetups. These offerings are designed to be trauma-informed, identity-affirming, and rooted in community connection. They reflect our commitment to meeting our community where they are and building sustainable, culturally grounded systems of care.

We’re most proud of how far we’ve come—from a volunteer-led collective to a nationally recognized organization—without compromising our values. We’re actively working to improve mental health outcomes for our community, challenge systemic erasure, and make space for BIPOC adoptees to be seen, heard, and supported.
By donating, you are investing in more equitable systems of care—ones that center those too often left out of the conversation. Support our work at www.bipocadoptees.org/donate. Every contribution fuels connection, healing, and long-term change.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?

One of the most important lessons we’ve learned is the power of staying true to our values and mission—especially when the path is difficult, underfunded, or misunderstood. In a landscape that often asks nonprofits to compromise in order to survive, we’ve chosen to remain rooted in our truth, led by and for BIPOC adoptees.

We’ve also learned that relationships are everything. Real, intentional relationships—not transactional ones—are the foundation of our work. The care we extend to each other and our community isn’t performative; it’s woven into how we organize, how we show up, and how we grow. We believe that meaningful, trust-based relationships are how we build not only programs, but movements. It’s how we cultivate healing and collective transformation.

At the end of the day, we’re not just building an organization—we’re nurturing a community of care. And that’s only possible when we lead with integrity, authenticity, and deep commitment to the people we serve.

Our organization is 100% volunteer-led, and we are actively working toward a more sustainable model that honors the labor and care behind our work. We call on sponsors, donors, and community partners to support our mission so that we can continue offering vital programs and resources without placing the burden on our community.

We are a non-transactional organization—we do not charge adoptees to attend our events or access core programs. Accessibility is central to our values, and we are committed to not creating more barriers for BIPOC adoptees to connect, heal, and build community.

Funding allows us to provide high-quality programming, build long-term infrastructure, and continue filling a critical gap in systems that often overlook adoptee voices—especially those of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).
By donating or sponsoring our events, you are investing in more equitable systems of care—ones that center those too often left out of the conversation. Support our work at www.bipocadoptees.org/donate. Every contribution fuels connection, healing, and long-term change.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bipocadoptees.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bipocadoptees/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/BIPOC-Adoptees-61559738159685/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bipoc-adoptees/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bipocadoptees