Media • Press • Public Conversations
A Story
Worth Hearing.
Author, speaker, executive coach, and consultant Rhonda M. Roorda brings insight, candor, and lived experience to conversations about identity, race, family, belonging, leadership, and the stories that shape us.
Meet Rhonda
Beyond the page, into the conversation.
What happens when the stories we inherit meet the truth we are ready to tell?
Rhonda M. Roorda is an award-winning author whose work explores identity, race, family, and belonging. A Black transracial adoptee raised in a white family, she brings personal insight and professional depth to conversations about adoption, racial identity, and the meaning of home.
Her career spans more than three decades in workers’ compensation fund administration, including 14 years as a Fund Administrator. She is also an executive coach and consultant who helps individuals and organizations navigate leadership, identity, and change.
Rhonda’s work has reached national audiences through media appearances and her consulting work with the Emmy-winning television series This Is Us.
Selected Media Experience
Stories that reach across audiences.
Rhonda has contributed to conversations across national television, news, culture, and podcast platforms. Her work connects personal experience with broader questions of identity, family, and society.
Visit the Media & Podcasts archive for available interviews, conversations, and recordings.
For Producers, Editors & Event Hosts
Ways to feature Rhonda.
From thoughtful long-form interviews to timely expert commentary, Rhonda brings an engaging and nuanced perspective to a range of formats.
Podcasts & Interviews
In-depth conversations about personal narrative, adoption, identity, race, family, and belonging.
Author Conversations
Book talks, literary events, readings, and discussions that invite audiences into the story behind the page.
Television & Broadcast
Interviews and conversations connecting lived experience to timely cultural and social questions.
Expert Commentary
Perspective on transracial adoption, racial identity, child welfare systems, and the role of family and community.
Moderated Conversations
Facilitated dialogue that makes room for complexity, multiple perspectives, and meaningful audience engagement.
Features & Essays
Personal and professional insight into identity, belonging, leadership, and the stories that shape our lives.
Conversation Starters
Stories with depth. Questions that matter.
These story angles can be tailored to your audience, publication, program, or event.
The Search for Belonging
How identity develops when family, culture, and personal history do not always tell the same story.
Transracial Adoption
What adoption narratives reveal—and leave out—about race, identity, family, and lived experience.
Race, Family & Love
Exploring the relationships between love, racial awareness, family history, and the work of understanding.
Faith & Identity
Questions of belief, personal history, community, and the ongoing work of becoming oneself.
Finding Your Voice
Moving from silence and inherited narratives toward agency, truth-telling, and self-definition.
From Story to Leadership
What personal insight can teach us about leadership, organizational culture, and navigating change.
A memoir by Rhonda M. Roorda
Featured Memoir
Torn from the Root
A Memoir of a Black Transracial Adoptee
In Torn from the Root, Rhonda M. Roorda brings readers into a deeply personal story of adoption, identity, race, family, and the lifelong search for belonging.
Her memoir opens space for honest conversations about the complexities of growing up across racial and cultural lines—and about the questions that can remain long after childhood.
For book clubs, literary organizations, media hosts, and community audiences, the memoir offers a compelling starting point for conversations that are intimate, challenging, and deeply human.
UNLEARN: Conversation on Transracial Adoption
Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Rhonda returned to Calvin University, her alma mater, for a conversation about transracial adoption, identity, family, and belonging. As a Board Emeritus member, she engaged students in a thoughtful discussion about the lived experiences and questions that shape this conversation.
Location: Calvin University, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
View event information →Politics & Prose
Washington, D.C. · July 30, 2026
Official Washington launch of Torn from the Root, featuring a conversation with Jelani Freeman.
View event details →Harvard Book Store
Cambridge, Massachusetts · August 6, 2026
An author event celebrating Torn from the Root and inviting readers into the story behind the memoir.
View event details →Schuler Books
Grand Rapids, Michigan · September 25, 2026
A book conversation with Rhonda M. Roorda and Rev. Dr. Reginald Smith.
View event details →Coventry Village Branch · Heights Libraries
Cleveland Heights, Ohio · September 26, 2026
An author talk and book signing presented with Adoption Network Cleveland and Mac’s Backs Books.
View event details →These 2026 appearances are now part of the tour archive. Additional dates and future conversations will be announced here as they are confirmed. For interviews, book events, speaking engagements, and community conversations, please use the contact link below.
Watch the Conversation
A story told in conversation.
Revisit Rhonda’s Politics & Prose book-launch conversation and hear more about the experiences and questions at the heart of Torn from the Root.
The conversation offers another way to explore the memoir’s themes of identity, family, race, and belonging.
Watch on YouTubeIf the video does not display, watch it directly on YouTube.
For Media & Event Professionals
Continue the conversation.
Explore Rhonda’s recorded conversations, learn more about her work, or reach out to discuss an interview, event, or speaking engagement.
Media & Interviews Archive
Explore selected interviews, podcasts, and conversations featuring Rhonda.
Watch & listen →Books & Publications
Discover Rhonda’s books and writing on adoption, race, identity, and belonging.
Explore the books →Speaking & Events
Learn more about conversations, presentations, and opportunities to work with Rhonda.
Explore speaking →Let’s Make Room for a Meaningful Conversation
Bring Rhonda into the conversation.
Planning a podcast, broadcast interview, author event, panel, or feature story? Connect with Rhonda to discuss your audience, your ideas, and the conversation you want to create.