The Anna Jinja Show
The Anna Jinja show focuses on the stories, issues, and questions connected to adoption and foster care experiences.
The host is an international adoptee with biological roots in Korea and adopted roots in the United States. As you can imagine, her journey and experiences as a transracial adoptee are multifaceted. Her experiences have been with the pain of discrimination and rejection as well as the joys of self-discovery and learning to embrace all aspects of her identity.
Along the way, she has discovered that she is not alone. We’re all – in some ways – adopted into or out of homes, cultures, communities, and relationships as we grow and evolve. This show illuminates the theme of adoption, in all ways, in our lives. And how those experiences create who we are and who we are yet to be.
Her hope is that through engaging with the guests and creative content, we are welcomed home in this world, cradled in the belief that we belong, that we are worthy, and that we are loved.
So stay tuned, and you may discover your own adoption story.
The Anna Jinja Show
Constance Iannetta & Nick Kizirnis
Constance Iannetta, #FosterStrong is a foster care alumna, foster/kinship/adoptive parent, and national child-welfare advocate. After aging out at eighteen to many struggles, she found healing in peer-support and purpose in helping others. She is “heart-driven” in making improvements to the system that has impacted her family for many generations.
In 2014, she founded FosterStrong.org to inspire kindness and healing, elevate community awareness, and ensure accessibility of resources for the foster care community. From legislative testimony to state/national board affiliations, Constance has used her voice and lived expertise to speak on issues such as aging-out supports, higher education, mental health, domestic violence, and self-care. Constance is a graduate of Gwynedd Mercy University and resides in Pennsylvania with her husband Brian, their three children and two dogs.
The show's music producer, Nick Kizirnis, joined the conversation for this episode. Nick Kizirnis is a Dayton, OH-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, who has spent the past two-plus decades writing genre-twisting and genre-defying material on over ten solo albums, while also collaborating playing in bands like The Mulchmen, Tobin Sprout’s Eyesinweasel, Cage and others with a collection of up-and-coming local musicians.
Nick selected his song, "Little Glow" because it is about how we get through the changes and challenges of life.