Susan_Cox

Susan Cox

Vice President Policy & External Affairs, Holt International Children's Services

Susan Soonkeum Cox has been an adoption and child welfare advocate for more than twenty-five years. Adopted from Korea in 1956, her life experience as an early international adoptee gives her a unique and personal perspective.

A nationally recognized presenter on international adoption, Ms. Cox has been a guest on the “NBC Today Show”, “Good Morning America”, CNN, “NBC Nightly News”, C-Span’s “Washington Journal”, “Australia Today”, NPR, Voice of America, and appeared in numerous national and international publications including: Newsweek, TIME, Washington Post, New York Times, People, Oregonian, Baltimore Sun, L.A. Times, the Korea Times, CNN, National Public Radio, Christian Science Monitor, Town & Country and The Wall Street Journal.

Ms. Cox was appointed to the first White House Commission on Asian and Pacific Islanders; is a member of The Hague Special Commission on Intercountry Adoption; was a principal for the “Collaboration to AdoptUS Kids” a project funded by Health and Human Services and regularly testifies before Congress on issues related to child welfare, adoption and foreign affairs.

During the 1988 Olympics in Korea, Susan was appointed by the Korean government as the spokesperson for Korean Adoption; was invited as a special guest to attend the 60th Anniversary of Korea; presented at the Korean political Forum in Seoul; and in 2002 was appointed as Honorary Citizen of Seoul by then Mayor, Lee, Myung Bak. In 2013 Ms. Cox was appointed as Honorary Consul for Oregon in Eugene by the Republic of Korea. In 2013 she was appointed by the Republic of South Korea as an Honorary Consul for the state of Oregon.

Her past and current board memberships include: Child Welfare League of America Adoption Advisory; The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute Ethics Committee; Women’s Campaign International; Oregon Korea Foundation; International Concerns Committee for Children; the Center for Family Connections; North American Council on Adoptable Children; the USAID Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid; The White House Council on Women in the America’s, and the Joint Council on International Children’s Services. In 2002, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption presented Susan with an “Angel in Adoption” award. Susan was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities in 2010 by Northwest Christian University, and named 2017 Champion of Children by Parenting Now. She was appointed by Oregon Governor Kate Brown to serve on the Oregon Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs.

Ms. Cox has written for numerous national and international publications including the Yale Journal of Law & Feminism; Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service; The American Academy of Pediatrics Journal; Portland State University; the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and the Casey Family Foundation.

In 1999 Susan was the founder of the International Gathering for Korean Adoptees in Washington D.C. and is the editor of “Voices from Another Place,” an anthology of Korean adoptees and “More Voices,” an anthology of Asian adoptees.

In 2016 she was inducted into the National Council for Adoption Hall of Fame.


Appearances