Carly Ellis, was born in Medellín Colombia and was adopted by a white family in Boston. Carly’s lived experience as a minority in predominantly white independent schools and colleges has fueled her to be an educator, to reach out to children who might be feeling “othered”. Carly earned her B.A from Washington College and M.Ed from Lesley University. Carly has been a lead teacher for Kindergarten, First and 2nd grade for the past 16 years, in public, private and schools abroad. Carly combine’s her personal experience along with data and research to support best practices when working with adopted children and families in her classroom and library.