Isaac Etter gives parents, families, educators, and organizations a new lens for understanding people who have been adopted or in foster care. One that transforms confusion and frustration into compassion and connection.
Isaac Etter was adopted at two. He grew up with confusing feelings about adoption. He loved his parents and family, but couldn't understand. If he was so loved in this family, why didn't his birth family want to raise him?
These confusing and conflicting thoughts led Isaac to create inner narratives around abandonment and rejection that affected his ability to connect with his family and many other people throughout his life.
Over the last 10 years Isaac has become one of the most in demand keynote speakers and trainers helping parents understand how adoptees start processing their stories in the early years and how negative narratives can form and affect them. Through his work he helps those who love people who are adopted truly understand them and how to support them.
Along with speaking, Isaac is the former CEO and owner of Parenting Different and currently a private coach for leaders and influencers who are adopted or have been in foster care.
From Caregivers, Communities, and Relationships
Adoption is not a moment. It's a lifelong experience and the children living it need the adults around them to understand what they're carrying.
In this keynote, Isaac Etter draws from his own experience as an adoptee and years of working with adoptive and foster families to explore what adoptees actually need from the people closest to them. He walks through the grief that lives inside every adoption story, the identity questions that grow and change over time, and why so much of what looks like difficult behavior is really something else entirely.
This isn't about doing everything right. It's about understanding your child more deeply and learning how to walk alongside them through the hard parts with curiosity, steadiness, and love.
"Isaac is a master at describing complex and difficult issues in a compassionate and easy to digest manner."
"The information was new and unique. It was from his own experience, things people would never know until he shared it."
Attendees leave with a clearer understanding of:
Best for: Adoption and foster care agencies & conferences / Foster care organizations / Schools & universities / Therapists & counselors
From executive directors and adoption professionals to adoptive families, therapists, and university professors here's what people across the child welfare and child care community say about Isaac.
"Isaac's keynote, Discovering My Identity, was incredibly powerful. Hearing his firsthand story as an adoptee, his search for identity and journey back toward connection with his adoptive family moved me deeply and held the room's attention from start to finish."
"Isaac provided our conference with a vulnerable, courageous, and fun presentation that addressed a seriously important topic in a way that was approachable to all. He managed to help people reflect and challenge their assumptions with humor and wit."
"Isaac Etter brings together honesty, generosity, and lived experience in a way few trainers can, providing the strongest adoptive parenting training available. He honors adoptive parents while courageously sharing the adoptee perspective, offering both kindness and challenge in equal measure."
"Isaac's presentations are always authentic and focused on helping adoption professionals improve their practice. His humor and demeanor make him an engaging and captivating speaker. It is incredibly helpful to hear the experience of a man of color speak about his experience as an adoptee representation matters."
"Isaac has a gift for gently pushing people out of their comfort zones in a way that feels supportive and empowering. Families describe his guidance as practical, effective, and meaningful. As adoption professionals, we wholeheartedly recommend him especially for prospective and adoptive families."
"Isaac's story is honest, bold, raw, and disruptive. Each time I attend his workshops, I leave emboldened to really hold the line in keeping families honest and reflective. He is a remarkable individual and I look forward to seeing how he continues to elevate this conversation on race and identity in adoption."
"I love the format of your talk and what I absolutely love was the honesty, candidness, and vulnerability with which you and your mom spoke. I can only imagine the courage it took per usual, you were great and please extend our gratitude to her!!"
"What a dynamic presentation! You dropped so many gems tonight my colleagues and I were singing a chorus of Hallelujahs in the background. Your choices about how to share your story combine to create a compelling presentation. I know our foster, resource, and adoptive parents found great value in your story."
"Hearing Isaac speak for the first time felt like finally finding someone who truly understood what I had been searching for. His authority is real and earned, grounded in lived experience and paired with practical, actionable guidance offered with openness and positivity."
"Isaac conducted a phenomenal training on understanding and supporting adoptees. His humorous anecdotes added a balance to the heavy, yet necessary education around the needs of youth in the Child Welfare System."
"I've been following Isaac for the past 2½ years and I'm always blown away when I hear him speak! His authentic approach and lived experience leaves me moved each time. He's the best of the best and has helped my family so much!"
"Fantastic information, engaging speaker with wonderful insight. Longer! Great info I only wish we had more time."
"Isaac is a passionate, well-read and personally experienced speaker! He's compassionate with adoptive families and adoptees. I have loved hearing him speak each time and gain new gems from each session. Just continue speaking please!"
"Isaac not only shares his story, but offers well thought out, real world advice on how to talk to our children about race; how to create a safe space for them to share their fears; and how to seek out cultural mirrors in their communities. The response was overwhelmingly positive."
"We have had the pleasure of having Isaac speak to both youth adoptees and groups of adults adoptees, adoptive parents, adoption professionals, and the community and he has connected with all audiences. We look forward to having Isaac return!"
"Isaac brings a level of compassion, humility, humor, and vulnerability to these spaces that are unmatched. His ability to integrate complex and nuanced concepts of adoption, family, and identity into disarming places of reflection are a gift to the adoption community."
"Isaac speaks frankly about the identity issues with which many adopted children struggle. He brings insight and a thoughtful perspective on a range of related adoption issues in a direct and respectful manner."
"Immediately after it ended, I was flooded with emails and text messages from participants who felt the same way. Isaac's presentation was enlightening and thorough."
"He is professional, articulate and insightful. He not only shared his powerful story, he provided our staff with excellent resources, advice and suggestions. His honest, heartfelt responses made our staff feel at ease and his training highly effective."
"One family shared, 'I loved hearing from someone who was adopted and personally experienced what he was speaking about.' Families found him well spoken and appreciated his honesty, sincerity, and transparency in the personal stories he shared."
"Participants were universally moved and impressed by Isaac's openness and thoughtfulness. He gracefully engaged in a challenging conversation about the myths and misjudgments around adoption and foster care."
"He was not intimidated by their initial silence, and helped my students break through their discomfort to realize the lived experiences of students in classrooms like the ones they hope to lead. It was an honor to have him share his expertise."
"Isaac provided vital information to our foster and adoptive families in a confident and kind manner. Isaac was knowledgeable and professional in his presentation and demeanor. He was very easy to work with!"
"I found Isaac's session to be engaging and informative. I particularly appreciated how he used his own experiences to highlight the important points in his presentation."
"We had the privilege of meeting Isaac during our foster care training with Bethany Christian Services. He shared his own adoption story with such transparency, authenticity, and vulnerability that made him immediately relatable. His openness to sharing his knowledge, wisdom, and life experience on the topic of transracial adoption makes him a great resource. He is incredibly helpful!"
"He is a great speaker. I found his presentation to be very insightful, validating, and truthful."
"Isaac Etter is a true champion for children and families. He effectively uses his knowledge, skills, and lived experiences to educate and empower others who support foster children and adoptees. Isaac strategically utilizes the art of storytelling to connect with the audience. His presentation was informative, engaging, and inspirational! Thank you for your passion and heart for this work, Isaac!"
"We had a great discussion with Isaac and several other local adoptive parents and adoptees. The discussion was casual but informative, and it was great to connect with a compassionate and intelligent adoptee who gave great advice and answers to some uncomfortable questions. I hope we'll be better adoptive parents thanks to this discussion."
"Isaac was a very profound speaker, he gauged the audience and had their attention the entire time throughout his presentation. I believe he was the perfect speaker for this graduation and the graduating youth got a lot out of his speech. Very professional and well spoken. I would have him come out anytime."
"The Transracial Adoption Workshop was extremely informative. It is always important to listen to those who have lived experience and Isaac was very open and used his personal story to help us understand better what our children might be going through. He made us comfortable to ask questions and he gave us great advice. I only wish we had more time with him to dive a little deeper into racial identity as our children get older. I look forward to meeting with Isaac again soon!"
Connection changes everything. But first, someone has to create the conditions for it.
That is what Isaac does in every room he enters. If you are planning an event for the people who show up for adopted and fostered people every day, reach out. We would love to be part of what you are building.
Email Isaac →
