260. Nikole "Koko" Shaw: "The Black AdopTea and the BADAN Community"

Koko is a same-race Black adoptee with 15 years of experience in community behavioral health. She holds a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and is a Professional Clinical Counselor. A mother and a healer, Koko brings a trauma-informed, liberation-focused lens to her work with individuals and communities impacted by adoption. Her insights have made her a frequent guest on podcasts, and she has spoken at major gatherings, including the BIPOC Adoptee Conference.

She is the founder and CEO of BADAN, the Black African Diaspora Adoptee Network—a global community committed to connection, care, and collective truth-telling for Black adoptees across the diaspora. Through community organizing, mental health advocacy, and storytelling. She creates space for Black adoptees to name grief, reclaim identity, and move toward embodied belonging. Her work centers the lived experiences of same-race adoptees while pushing for accountability and change within adoption and mental health systems. As stated, she can be found spilling adoption truths on Instagram @theblackadoptea.  https://www.instagram.com/badancommunity/

References: https://untanglingourroots.org/schedule/

Music by Corey Quinn