Meet Our Team

Astrid Castro

Founder + CEO

Astrid Castro (she/her/hers) is the founder and CEO of Adoption Mosaic. Her life-long interest in adoption is rooted in her own adoption at the age of four from Colombia (along with her older sister). Astrid has been in reunion with her birth family in Colombia since December 2012. Read about Astrid’s journey searching and finding her birth mother in The Oregonian Part 1 and Part 2. 

Astrid Castro

Astrid has a degree in sociology with an emphasis in adoption. Since 1992, she has traveled the country to lead youth groups, present workshops on transracial parenting, how to talk with children about adoption, and various other workshops focusing on adoption. Prior to creating Adoption Mosaic, Astrid worked in both the private and public sectors of various adoption organizations such as the Oregon Post Adoption Resource Center (ORPARC), Holt International and Rocky Mountain Adoption Exchange, and VIDA (while living in Italy).


She has also sat on several boards of directors (North American Council on Adoptable Children, Open Adoption and Family Services, Northwest Adoptive Families Association, Spoon Foundation)​ to support the adoption community.


Astrid has also been featured on many podcasts and contributed a chapter to the anthology, Parenting as Adoptees. She has also helped to develop materials such as Adoption in the Movies, and Adoptive Parent Training: Developing Communication Skills, an innovative, evidence-based, training DVD.


Astrid’s personal experiences as an adoptee, a woman of color, and growing up in a white family and community, fuel her professional path to helping others. She is aware of the benefit of post-adoption services for individuals and their families and seeks to bring these services to the adoption community.


When Astrid is not working she loves training for half marathons, firing up her outdoor pizza oven and sharing homemade pizza with family and friends and biking with her little dogs, Guapo and Baci. Her absolute favorite thing is to enjoy the adventures of life with her amazing daughter.


Shelise Keum Mee
Gieseke Head of Operations
Shelise Keum Mee Gieseke

Shelise Keum Mee Gieseke

Head of Operations

(she/her)

Shelise has been involved with Adoption Mosaic since 2008, as a volunteer and employee of Adoption Mosaic nonprofit. She has been involved in the adoption community for over a decade as an educator, editor, and mentor, including the honor of editing the blog Land of Gazillion Adoptees and the Gazillion Voices online magazine.


At the end of 2020, Shelise rejoined her friend and mentor, Astrid in building and growing Adoption Mosaic LLC. She loves that her position at Adoption Mosaic allows her to connect with all members of the adoption community and brings opportunities to reframe the adoption narrative.


Shelise is an intercountry, South Korean, interracial adoptee. She was adopted as an infant and raised by a white family in Minnesota. She has three siblings who are her parents’ biological children. She has been to Korea to search for her family, but did not find them. In her free time she likes to watch k-dramas, go to taekwondo with her family, and pretend she is going to learn to speak Korean.

Reema
Mendoza Incoming Head of Operations
Shelise Keum Mee Gieseke

Reema Mendoza

Incoming Head of Operations

(she/they)

Reema is an international, transracial adoptee. She was born in Kolkata, India and adopted as an infant. She was raised in Colorado by a single white woman. Reema began her journey to understand, connect with, and reclaim her own identity in 2019. She is involved in multiple adoptee groups, and she deeply values being in community with fellow adoptees.


Reema joined the Adoption Mosaic team in 2024. She has previously worked in developmental psychology, early childhood education, parenting education, research, and community building. She is thrilled to bring her personal and professional experiences to her work with Adoption Mosaic.


In her free time, Reema loves taking Bollywood and bhangra dance classes, exploring Portland's foodie scene with friends, trying to cook Indian food, watching Star Trek, tending to her many houseplants, and playing with her grumpy, talkative cat, Theo. Reema is also currently one of the organizers of the PDX Queer Asian Social Meetup group.

Joanie
Alminiana Executive Assistant
Joanie Alminiana

Joanie Alminiana

Executive Assistant

(she/her)

Joanie is a domestic adoptee, born and adopted at 3 months in Portland, Oregon. She has been in reunion since 1986.


Joanie worked on Ballot Measure 58 with Helen Hill, achieving open records for all adoptees born in Oregon. Prior to this she was involved with Oregon Adopted Rights Association for many years.


In 2019, Joanie led the Portland chapter of Adoptees Connect, where she met Astrid and started volunteering with Adoption Mosaic. Joanie loves listening, learning and growing with the adoptee community.


Joanie and her husband enjoy family dinners, games, and get-togethers with their 3 adult children, and multiple dogs.

Joplin
Finfrock Marketing & Social Media Assistant
Joplin Finfrock

Joplin Finfrock

Marketing & Social Media Assistant

(she/her)

Joplin Finfrock is an intercountry Chinese adoptee. She was adopted as an infant during the One Child Policy and raised by a single white mother in Albuquerque, NM.


Joplin is a recent member of Adoption Mosaic and is currently the Marketing & Social Media Assistant. Joplin is fairly new to the adoption community and has found a lot of peace and support through Adoption Mosaic.


Joplin is a full time program coordinator working within Portland Public Schools, providing care and education to elementary students.

Laura
Batt Consultant
Joplin Finfrock

Laura Batt

Consultant

(she/her)

Laura Batt was adopted domestically as an infant and raised in a closed adoption. Laura has been in reunion with her biological family for 25+ years.


Laura is a birth/first parent to her oldest adult son. She is parenting another teenage son, and young child with her significant other in Oregon.


Laura has a master’s degree in social work. She has worked in adoption and parenting support for 18+ years, supporting people to continue to parent their biological children. For families who opted to make an adoption plan, Laura supported birth/first parents and adoptive families with planning an adoption, creating open adoption plans, and providing post adoption support. Laura worked as a therapist in a community mental health setting and is currently a perinatal social worker in a medical setting. Laura completed an adoption therapy certificate and has a certification in perinatal mental health.

Jordan
Davis Course Facilitator
Jordan Davis

Jordan Davis

Course Facilitator

(he/him)

Jordan Davis is an African American domestic, interracial adoptee. After a closed private infant adoption, Jordan has been in reunion with his biological family in Louisiana for three years.


Jordan has been involved in Adoption Mosaic since 2020 and is currently serving as a Facilitator, but has also participated as a We The Experts panelist and in curriculum development. Jordan has loved being a part of the Adoption Mosaic community, and especially enjoys the intimate and in-depth work of Better Together.


He resides in Austin, TX where he is pursuing his PhD in Anthropology.

Becca
Flatt Course and Group Facilitator
Carmen Hinckley

Becca Flatt

Course and Group Facilitator

(she/her)

Becca Flatt (she/her) is a Mixed Race, Black and white, closed, domestic infant, interracial adoptee. Becca’s biological family and adoptive family mirror each other; however, Becca, being mixed race, does not share the racial identity of either set of her parents. Becca identifies as a recovering compliant adoptee.


Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and raised in San Jose, California, Becca was raised in racial diversity while being raised without racial mirrors. Becca was also raised in adoptee isolation. It wasn’t until Becca was 28 that she started the search and reunion process that she recognized the importance of being in a community with other adoptees. Becca has spent her entire adult life trying to understand the human condition and the importance of identity and mental health.


Becca Graduated from The University of Southern California with her Master’s in social work and a concentration in mental health in 2014. Becca provides mental health treatment to transracial, interracial, and same-race adoptees of color. Becca is also an adoptive parent dedicated to discussing and participating in relationally focused adoption.


Over the past 20 years, Becca has gone through estrangement and reconciliation with her adoptive parents. Through her lived experience, she understands how devastating estrangement can be for all parties involved.


She hopes to help adoptees and adoptive parents learn how to navigate the grief, trauma, desperation, shame, and fear that often accompanies estrangement.

Brooke
Haynes Business Coach
Brooke Haynes

Brooke Haynes

Business Coach

(she/her)

Brooke Haynes is an adoptee and a first mother. Brooke lives in Louisville, KY and is a mother to her son, Jagger.


Brooke has been involved with Adoption Mosaic for 2 years as a Business Coach and the Virtual Event Support. Adoption Mosaic allows Brooke to combine her love of building communities and seeing businesses thrive that are making a positive impact on the world with her personal adoption journey.

Carmen
Hinckley Meditation Teacher
Carmen Hinckley

Carmen Hinckley

Meditation Teacher

(she/her)

Carmen Hinckley is an international adoptee from Brazil.

She was adopted as an infant by a single mother and currently resides in Portland, Oregon. She has been involved with Adoption Mosaic since 2012.

Carmen is a certified Meditation and Mindfulness Teacher. She believes in the power of self-care and the positive impact it can have on the mind and body. Meditation is a form of practicing self-care and can help to cultivate a sense of calm, presence, inner peace, and clarity.

Carmen is pleased to offer guided meditation sessions for any member of the adoption constellation who would find this beneficial. If you are interested in joining Carmen for a guided meditation, please contact carmen.hinckley@gmail.com.

Liz
Kwon Designer & Developer
Liz Kwon

Liz Kwon

Designer & Developer

(she/her)

Liz Kwon was born in Seoul, South Korea and was adopted to a family in Wisconsin. With a background in front end development, Liz is able to successfully help lead a team as an eCommerce Project Manager for an online retailer.

When she is not working on Adoption Mosaic, Liz works on KAD Collective, a data-focused website whose goal is to help Korean adoptees find connection through shared experiences, locations or stories via a bi-yearly census and ongoing database.

Liz also enjoys helping adoptees by speaking on panels, notably with Adoption Mosaic and KAAN.

Liz currently lives in Denver with her cat, Jasmine.

Maureen
McCauley Consultant & Course Facilitator
Maureen McCauley

Maureen McCauley

Consultant & Course Facilitator

(she/her)

Maureen is the adoptive parent of four children (all now in their 30’s), and also has two granddaughters.


Her professional background is in child welfare advocacy, as executive director of 3 adoption-related nonprofits. She connected with Astrid and Adoption Mosaic many years ago, and has presented and co-facilitated workshops with Adoption Mosaic for several years. Maureen loves the way Adoption Mosaic is adoptee-centered, and that it also welcomes all in the adoption community to grow and learn.


Maureen lives in Seattle, working primarily as a writer and editor.

Jennifer
Poole Panelist Coordinator & Consultant
Jennifer Poole

Jennifer Poole

Adoptee Outreach Coordinator & Consultant

(she/her)

Jennifer Poole was adopted as an infant in a closed adoption. She holds a Masters Degree in Interfaith Pastoral Counseling, where she wrote her thesis on “Openness in Adoption as an Opportunity for Spiritual Growth”. It was during this time, in 2001, that she initiated her reunion with her birth mother and later with her birth father.


Passionate about supporting families, she is certified in Hand in Hand Parenting, Redirecting Children’s Behavior, the Enneagram, and Whole Person Design Life Coaching. Drawing from a large tool box which includes continuing education in Mindfulness, High Conflict Diversion, ADHD, ACES, Attachment Theory and Trauma Informed Care, Jennifer provides counseling and coaching to help families move from conflict to the connection they seek.


She currently lives in Oregon with her husband. Together they have 4 grown children.

Jennifer
Quichocho Database Coordinator
Jennifer Quichocho

Jennifer Quichocho

Database Coordinator

(she/her)

Jennifer Quichocho is a multiracial adoptee from Guam. She grew up in a transracial household and mostly lived in all white communities. Her adoption was private but she found both her first mother and father through her own research and through DNA testing.


She has been a volunteer with Adoption Mosaic since 2020 and has spent most of that time creating a client database and event planning contact systems. She enjoys being a part of the Adoption Mosaic community because it gives her the chance to be with others who share the adoption experience.

Sujata Soni
Wipper Course Facilitator
Sujata Soni Wipper

Sujata Soni Wipper

Course Facilitator

(she/her)

Sujata Soni Wipper is an adoptive mother and school psychologist. She has been working with children, educators, and families for the last 15 years in a variety of educational settings.


Her expertise is in behavior consultation, psychological assessment and counseling. She also supports her district’s staff equity team and helped to create and to co-facilitate the student equity team.


She and her husband adopted their 9-year-old daughter through domestic open adoption. Sujata is a co-facilitator for Adoption Mosaic’s Conscious Adoption: Lifelong Tools for Successful Parenting course.

Hear from our community!

  • "Adoption Mosaic is a solid rock, in the midst of a sea of information [and] misinformation. When I want information, resources, and learning opportunities I can trust, I turn to Adoption Mosaic."

    ~Rachel Ginnochio, adoptive parent

  • "Astrid brought together my bio mom and me after I learned I was adopted for the first time at age 44... and was a wonderful successful reunion because of Astrid’s guidance. Cannot recommend her enough."

    ~ Debbie Earl, adoptee

  • "[Adoption Mosaic's] offerings are varied, thoughtful, provocative and powerful in the way they put adoptees first...We are relieved, as parents of young adult adoptees, to have found this resource."

    Sue Unkenholz, adoptive parent

  • "The way that Adoption Mosaic’s Team run ‘We The Experts’ creates an immensely safe space with healthy boundaries and a place to focus on the rich content... Being a panelist was a wonderful opportunity to share and be connected to other adoptees."

    Suzanne Bachner, adoptee

  • "Adoption Mosaic has been a huge support for us in navigating issues around transracial adoption and reunion with birth family. Adoption Mosaic helps me be a more compassionate parent."

    Karen Orth, adoptive parent

  • "I'm a Late Discovery Adoptee...I wish I had discovered Adoption Mosaic at the beginning of my journey. This is a stellar organization, headed by phenomenal people who care greatly, and offer a safe place to seek out unique paths towards healing."

    Carlyn Montes de Oca, adoptee