ASIA Families

• To support the life-long journey of Korean adoptees and their families through a community that provides education and resources about Korean culture and the adoptive experience.
• To foster the development of confidence, resilience, and a strong, positive identity among adoptees throughout their unique journey.
• To grow an adoptive community which can raise awareness about and guide others in understanding the “Korean Adoption Experience.”

Programs currently offered by ASIA Families include Korean Culture School, Camp Rice, Korea Bridge Tours, Dinner for Twelve for Adult Adoptees, and student scholarships. As we continue to build upon our connections, ASIA Families looks to expand programming to better serve adult adoptees and expand our geographic reach.

When the leadership team reflected on what prevents ASIA Families from fulfilling these needs, we determined that the organization lacked the formal infrastructure required to support growth. Our current model for programing and the daily work of the organization relies primarily on volunteers. While volunteers will always be an essential element to ASIA Families, appropriate support of both volunteers and our executive director is critical to ensure consistency, provide for efficient use volunteer skill, and prevent volunteer fatigue and turnover.
The leadership team also recognizes the pivotal role of our executive director, Grace Song, in growing and sustaining ASIA Families over the last ten years. Without Grace’s dedication and passion, it would be incredibly difficult to sustain ASIA Families; both institutional knowledge and infrastructure are needed to maintain operations at the current level or quality.
In an effort to determine what changes are needed to maintain ASIA Families, the leadership team took inventory of our current programs and organizational activities. We included both current activities as well as potential activities suggested by our members. We reviewed each organizational and program activity to identify goal of the activity, those served by the activity, resources required, and barriers to the activity’s success. We found that maintaining and growing our core programs required additional organizational support, and that identified needs for new programing for teens and adult adoptees are not being met., Accordingly, the leadership team recommended focusing in the next year on strengthening the organizational structure of ASIA Families by hiring core staff and standardizing program and operational activities. These changes will position ASIA Families in the coming years to meet its program needs and allocate financial resources strategically.

When the leadership team reflected on what prevents ASIA Families from fulfilling these needs, we determined that the organization lacked the formal infrastructure required to support growth. Our current model for programing and the daily work of the organization relies primarily on volunteers. While volunteers will always be an essential element to ASIA Families, appropriate support of both volunteers and our executive director is critical to ensure consistency, provide for efficient use volunteer skill, and prevent volunteer fatigue and turnover.
The leadership team also recognizes the pivotal role of our executive director, Grace Song, in growing and sustaining ASIA Families over the last ten years. Without Grace’s dedication and passion, it would be incredibly difficult to sustain ASIA Families; both institutional knowledge and infrastructure are needed to maintain operations at the current level or quality.
In an effort to determine what changes are needed to maintain ASIA Families, the leadership team took inventory of our current programs and organizational activities. We included both current activities as well as potential activities suggested by our members. We reviewed each organizational and program activity to identify goal of the activity, those served by the activity, resources required, and barriers to the activity’s success. We found that maintaining and growing our core programs required additional organizational support, and that identified needs for new programing for teens and adult adoptees are not being met., Accordingly, the leadership team recommended focusing in the next year on strengthening the organizational structure of ASIA Families by hiring core staff and standardizing program and operational activities. These changes will position ASIA Families in the coming years to meet its program needs and allocate financial resources strategically.