Samara is an academic researcher, writer, artist, and community organiser whose work explores race, whiteness, coloniality, and child rights, with a particular focus on transracial-transnational adoption—a topic that is both personal and political.

She is a PhD student at Flinders University. Her current research, Families for Babies or Babies for Families? Manufactured Orphans in South Korea’s Adoption Industrial Complex, examines orphanhood and adoption through a lived experience perspective—an approach she considers essential in the study of anything involving human being.

Samara also works as a Research Assistant with A/Prof Kathomi Gatwiri on the ARC-funded project Beyond Inclusion: Belonging and Racial Dignity for Africans in Australia, supported by the highly prestigious Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) scheme.

She holds a Master’s in International Development and has a background in community organising and grassroots advocacy. She is a Founding Member of KADS Connect, an adoptee-led collective advocating against illicit and illegal adoption. You can also find her at the Reproductive Justice Network at the University of Melbourne. She has previously worked at the Social Enterprise Council for NSW & ACT (SECNA), the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA), and the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW (LJF).