Why I’m Here
Why she said yes to chairing the council
Somi Monju is an intercountry adoptee from India, a licensed social worker, and the Chair of our Advisory Council. Ian, our Executive Director, asked her why she agreed to take it on. Here is her answer.
In Her Own Words
“Every international adoptee deserves that community and support.”
Ian, our Executive Director, asked Somi why she agreed to be the Chair of The Ties Foundation Advisory Council. Somi first met Ian on a heritage trip to India when she was 13, and when she heard he was starting the Foundation, she reached out to help.
The council exists to make sure grants are distributed equitably and to give the Foundation checks and balances. Somi leads it alongside four other adoptees. We’ll introduce the full council soon.
Read the transcript
Hi everyone, my name is Somi Monju and I’m a therapist from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and I work a lot with foster and adoptive families.
And I myself was internationally adopted from India, and I got to go back when I was 13, which is when I first met Ian. And we’ve kind of stayed in touch here and there, but when I found out he was creating The Ties Foundation, I wanted to help in any way that I could.
And when I reached out, he shared that he wanted to create an advisory council to make sure that the grants were being distributed equitably, and to provide some checks and balances for the foundation.
I’ve had the honor of being the chair for this advisory council, and we have four other members who are all internationally adopted and are going to be bringing their experiences and stories and expertise to this work.
And we are really excited to get started. Because we believe that every international adoptee deserves that community and support, and we want to make that goal a reality.
More Stories On The Way
Somi is one of many
Adoptees, families, mentors, and supporters will be sharing their “why” here, in their own words.
Join Her
We’re in this together
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