Adoptive Parents of Color Collaborative (APCC)
Yes, we do adopt! Pact’s Adoptive Parents of Color Collaborative (APCC) centers our experiences as adoptive parents of color.
Join the community: APCC creates spaces for people of color who have adopted or fostered children of color to build community, receive and provide peer support, and participate in educational activities with other families who share their experiences of adoption. Community members gain insight into the challenges, the triumphs, and the everyday, natural moments that make up the lives of families built by adoption led by people of color.
Children and families thrive when they are part of a larger community that reflects their unique experiences. Through the Adoptive Parents of Color Collaborative, we are claiming our space, telling our stories, speaking our truths, and making our voices heard.
Adoptive Parents of Color Programs
Yes, we do adopt! APCC offers programs specifically for BIPOC adoptive families and their family members:
Adoptive Parents of Color Support Group
A safe space to build community with other adoptive parents of color.
BIPOC Adoptive Parents (All Ages & Stages)
Adoptive Parents of Teens & Young Adults Support Group
Connect with other BIPOC adoptive parents of teens and young adults.
BIPOC Adoptive Parents of Teens & Young Adults
Webinars and Conferences
Specifically focused on the needs of adoptive parents of color and their families.
“Yes, We Do Adopt” Podcast
Hear stories of and for adoptive parents of color.
Yes, We Do Adopt: Voices of Adopted Parents of Color
The APCC blog is a space for adoptive parents of color to share their stories and experiences.
Facebook Group
Private discussion group just for adoptive parents of color.
More ways you can join the APCC community:
- Subscribe to the free APCC e-newsletter by emailing APCC@pactadopt.org
- Like the APCC public page on Facebook
- Contact us at APCC@pactadopt.org
Adoptive Parents of Color Family Album
Yes, we do adopt! Adoptive parents of color are under-represented in images and discussions of adoptive families. Pact’s Adoptive Parents of Color Collaborative created this online Family Album to celebrate and raise the visibility of adoptive families led by people of color. Click through to view some beautiful, diverse families led by adoptive parents of color.
Would you like to add an image of your family to the APCC Family Album? Submit here.
APCC Team
Raquel Vivanco
Adoptive Parents of Color Collaborative Director
Raquel Vivanco (she/her) is the Latin@ adoptive mother to two Latin@ persons. Raquel has been an active member of the Pact community for over fifteen years and is deeply dedicated to ethical adoption reform. She serves as director of Pact’s Adoptive Parents of Color Collaborative and parent program manager. Previously, Raquel worked for the Tides Center & Foundation as a project manager and human resources manager, and launched two successful small businesses in Latin America. She has a BA in International Relations from Stanford.
Greetings from Raquel (PDF)
Maya Mosley
Adoptive Parents of Color Support Group Facilitator
Maya Mosley
Maya Mosley (she/they) is a Black foster-adopt parent residing in Oakland, CA, where she was born and predominantly raised, and is a long-time member of Pact’s Adoptive Parents of Color Collaborative. As a parent, Maya strives to support her teen-aged child and grow in her understanding of the intersectionality of racial, cultural, gender, neurodivergent and adoptee identities. As a California charter school teacher, Maya has been supporting and guiding homeschoolers for over 20 years.
A message from Malaika Parker, founder of Pact’s Adoptive Parents of Color Collaborative:
“We need this. Talking about adoption, birth families, and loss is critical to the well-being of adopted children, yet there are very few resources that specifically support parents of color and their children. Adoptive parents of color are often relegated to a secondary position relative to white transracial adopters. In conversations about transracial adoption, you hear ‘Well, if that child was with a family of color…,’ as if same-race adoptive families don’t face any challenges. Or families of color are framed as doing some kind of charity work, encouraged to ‘step up for children of color.’ The dominant culture of adoption focuses on the needs of white parents. In reality, the majority of adoptive/foster/kinship placements are with people of color. Lack of acknowledgement of this reality leaves adoptive parents of color without community as well as vital opportunities for relevant education.”