Anna Wolak
Past Work
Indiana Adoption Program Direction
I directed the state of Indiana's adoption program from 2013—2019. I got to build an amazing team of writers, designers, photographers, videographers, event planners, and advocates. With their help, I launched www.IndianaAdoption Program.org to share adoption success stories and media portfolios of children in foster care. By my final fiscal year, we became the top state in the U.S. for adoptions from foster care. Our governor cited our parent portal and digital presence as a reason we earned a $5M incentive award to enhance the state’s child welfare system.
National Adoption Month
For 10 years, I coordinated Indiana's statewide celebration of National Adoption Month — from event themes and concepts to event execution. These celebrations included press releases, digital invitations, solid relationships with media partners and government officials, and the design and distribution of printed materials like photo props and branded giveaways. All press coverage was earned, not paid, and we were consistently featured in news stories across the state, leading to a record-breaking increase in the number of families inquiring to adopt.
Indiana Adoption Program Branding
When I began working for the Indiana Adoption Program, it did not have a logo or a website. I created and launched www.IndianaAdoptionProgram.org. My internal creative team, with the support of marketing agencies, created a clear digital and print presence to increase the chances of matching children in foster care to their forever families. It worked! In my final fiscal year as Director of the Indiana Adoption Program, Indiana became the top state in the nation for adoptions from foster care.
What We Do Here Is Magic
The Palmer House Hilton Hotel gave students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) free rein to photograph the historic hotel for three academic semesters. I managed the partnership between the two Chicago powerhouses alongside photography professor Lewis Kostiner. I created and compiled work, then wrote and designed a book of photography from the project, titled What We Do Here Is Magic: The Art of Business and the Business of Art, which was published by GFT Publishing in 2012.
Scarlet's Story
I worked with award-winning journalist Marisa Kwiatkowski and photographer Kelly Wilkinson (IndyStar) to tell the story of a teen who had been in foster care most of her life. After years of trying to match Scarlet with a home, we decided as a team to go as public as possible. We wanted to be a megaphone for what Scarlet told us: She wanted a family. We worked with Scarlet to tell her story her way. After the story ran, adoption inquiries spiked — not just for Scarlet, but for teens across the state. After 4,057 days in foster care, we found Scarlet a home — a story so heartwarming, it was featured on Good Morning America.
To see some of my published writing and photography, read more adoption stories here.