Meet Your AC Member: Amanda Assalone Cho

Name: Amanda Assalone Cho

Gender Pronouns: She/Her

Where do you call home? I was born in Seoul, Korea, grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and live in Atlanta, Georgia. I have family and friends in all three cities!

Tell us a little about yourself. How do you spend your time outside of KAAN?

I live in Atlanta with Jasper (husband), Hailey (stepdaughter), and Axel (K9 kid), and work remotely for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In my free time, I enjoy eating kimchi jjigae, watching Korean dramas, and organizing social events for the Korean Adoptee Association of Georgia (KAAG).

What is your role on the Advisory Council?

I’m a member of the Engagement Committee and co-facilitator for KAAN’s Leadership Summit.

How did you hear about KAAN? How did you decide to get involved in the AC?

Aeriel Ashlee connected me with KAAN. We co-presented a session together with Sarah Gallenberg at KAAN 2017 and attended the conference with our mothers. I’ve stayed involved in KAAN since 2017 in different roles and felt it was the perfect time to join the AC.

How many KAAN conferences have you attended?

I’ve attended 4 in-person and 2 virtual KAAN conferences.

What issues/topics related to adoption are you most interested in? (e.g., What types of topics have you presented on or attended at previous KAAN conferences?)

The topics that I’ve co-presented on have been on Situating TRAs in BLM, Recovery & Renewal Post-Marriage, Overcoming Unhealthy Patterns in Relationships, Adoptees Without Citizenship, Adoptee Leadership, Anti-Asian Hate and the Adoptee Experience, and Visiting Korea with Adult Adoptees and their Adoptive Mothers. During KAAN 2023, I will co-present a session on Managing Birth Family Reunion & Relationships and co-facilitate KAAN’s Leadership Summit.

What do you love most about the KAAN community?

The KAAN community is a chosen family that understands and supports you unconditionally. Although there’s a little bit of everything within KAAN, it’s a community that just “gets” you.

What is a fun or random fact people might not know about you?

I’m like an open book so I can’t think of anything fun or random that people might not know about me. ☺

Anything else you'd like to share with the KAAN community?

I really hope KAAN will come to Atlanta in the near future!