Amanda Woolston is an adoption and child welfare focused scholar, author, therapist, community organizer, leader, activist, educator, clinical supervisor, expert witness, social influencer, and field instructor. For over a decade, her work has reached millions globally through media campaigns, influence on public policy, grassroots initiatives, and more than a dozen published books. 

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Amanda was  born in 1985 and adopted in 1986 from foster care managed by the largest adoption agency in the United States. Amanda is an "indirect victim" of Georgia Tann. She is a third generation adoptee and is the adopted daughter of an Iroquois mother whose heritage was stolen by the Carlisle school. Growing up, Amanda was given the nickname "Jake" by her adoptive maternal grandfather. To this day, the family believes that this nickname was homage to her grandfather's childhood friend who rode away from their orphanage on the orphan trains.

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Amanda began her work in adoption thirteen years ago through sharing her lived experience and advocacy work at her award-winning blog, The Declassified Adoptee. She is the founder of Pennsylvania Adoptee Rights, co-founder of Lost Daughters, co-founder of Roots Incorporated, a founding (former) board member of the Adoption Policy and Reform Collaborative, a former board member of the Adoptee Rights Coalition, and a past writer for Gazillion Voices Magazine and Social Work Helper. Amanda's writing and testimonies have influenced public policy across the U.S. She frequently presents her work at conferences including the Civil Liberties and Public Policy conference, the Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network conference, St. John's Adoption Initiative Conference, and the Statewide Adoption and Permanency conference.

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Amanda has worked clinically and in groups with adopted and fostered people since 2013. She focused her BSW, MSW, and DSW education on adoption and child welfare and trained intensively in post-adoption support in one of the oldest post-adoption support units in the country. She has worked extensively in homes, community centers, and schools to prevent kids struggling with mental illness from being removed from their homes or experiencing instability in their foster or adoptive homes. Amanda currently works out of her private practice which she co-owns with Stephanie Oyler to see a variety of clients connected to adoption and foster care and beyond. Therapy Center for Transformative Growth provides post-adoption support training to interns, therapy services to clients, consultations to professionals, and coaching services to parents.

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In addition to her political, community, and clinical work in adoption, Amanda is active in academia. She is currently pursing a DSW at Simmons University. She has taught Psychology, Sociology, and Social Work classes for West Chester University of PA and Cecil College throughout her past six years as an adjunct professor. And she currently serves as an elected official as a Councilperson for Oxford Borough Council where she facilitates community-police-public safety accountability and engagement as chair of the Police and Public Safety Committee.