Welcome to The [Inclusion] Conversation Podcast! Our guest this episode is Liz Sargent, Filmmaker, Writer-Director, and Adoptee, in conversation with our host, Grace Yung Foster. This podcast dives into the world of work, careers, and life for Adoptees, Fosters, our allies, parents, child welfare professionals, policy experts, and all within the Adoptee and Foster's orbit. Liz Sargent is a Korean-American adoptee whose award-winning work as a filmmaker explores themes of adoption, disability, and family. As a writer-director, she brings a distinctive perspective to visual storytelling, drawing from her background as a choreographer to channel complex human emotion. Liz’s personal experiences as the middle child of eleven siblings, along with her intersectional identity, deeply inform her creative vision. Her debut feature TAKE ME HOME premiered in U.S. Competition at the Sundance Film Festival (2026), where she received the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. The film went on to screen internationally in Perspectives Competition at the Berlin International Film Festival. The project was created with Caring Across Generations, River Road Entertainment, Cinereach, Cyprian Films New York and ALLCAPS. The feature script was a recipient of the SFFILM Rainin Grant in 2023 and won the $1M AT&T Untold Stories prize at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2025. TAKE ME HOME is particularly notable for casting Liz’s cognitively disabled sister in the lead role, an experience she wrote about in a guest column for The Hollywood Reporter during the film’s FYC Oscar campaign. Sargent’s proof-of-concept short Take Me Home premiered at the Sundance (2023), won the 2024 Grand Jury Prize at the American Cinematheque PROOF Film Festival (2024), and was featured at the White House for the 25th Anniversary of the Olmstead Act. The Inclusion Initiative is also thrilled to share that we are hosting a screening of Liz’s Take Me Home film as a part of our Leadership Summit. We are offering BOGO 50% off tickets to our 2026 Leadership Summit in Washington DC. We hope to see you there on November 13, 2026. Tickets (and scholarship tickets are available - free to anyone who needs them!) Tickets include: Admission into the event Networking hour with our leaders (includes light apps and a drink ticket - must be 21 to drink alcohol) Admission into the Narrative Change workshop Summit swag item Access to our Career Sponsor who will be job/career resources onsite Admission into the film screening (film details TBA) You can add on to receive a copy of Grace Yung Foster's leadership book - to be published in March of 2027 and it will be mailed to the address you provide upon check-out Event Details 2026 Leadership Summit Date: Friday, November 13, 2026 Time: 3pm - 8pm ET Place: Theater J at DuPont Circle, Washington, DC Description: An exciting one day event filled with sector leaders as guest speakers discussing Adoptee & Foster Inclusion, Representation, and Narrative Change Power in Media. Our general event deck linked here. Our event website linked here. Our sponsorship deck linked here. Our 2025 event videos. Our volunteer signup form here. Tickets are LIVE! Purchase directly here. -------- Like the show? Please follow, rate, and review us. Liz Sargent and Take Me Home Film Links https://sargentliz.com/ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6338418/ www.takemehomefilm.com Want to submit an idea or suggest a guest? Submit the form below, or email us at: contact@theinclusioninitiative.com. Find us at www.theinclusioninitiative.com Guest Submission Form: https://www.theinclusioninitiative.com/podcast Want to support The Inclusion Initiative? Wear or gift our merch, sponsor the podcast, or give a financial gift to support our work in elevating Adoptees and Fosters and our allies. -------- Our executive producer is Grace Yung Foster. This show is brought to you by The Inclusion Initiative Media Studio.
