JT Olson
Author, Founder & President of Both Hands
Forty years after being orphaned as a child alongside his four siblings, JT Olson went on to start a faith-based non-profit serving orphans and widows called Both Hands. Their goal is to fulfill the call in James 1:27 to care for orphans and widows by alleviating the financial burden facing families considering adoption.
Both Hands helps families organize service projects for widows while raising funds for their adoptions. Similar to a 5k race, a family gathers a team of volunteers who raise sponsorship for their day of service with the funds raised going towards adoption expenses or adoption grants. Over 1,400 Both Hands projects have been completed across 45 states and have raised $20+ million for adoption costs, and counting!
Olson’s personal tragedy gave him an overwhelming understanding of the need to find loving homes for the world’s orphaned and vulnerable children and inspired his family’s life-altering decision to adopt their daughter, Grace, from China. His book, The Orphan, the Widow & Me, captures his powerful story through God’s transformation of pain into passion, the joy found through adoption and the value of choosing life.
Speaker Location
Nashville, TN
Travel Notes
Speaking Themes
- Turning Pain to Passion – His life story of being orphaned and how God used his pain to adopt their daughter and eventually start Both Hands
- A Kinship Adoptees Perspective – Sharing his experience of being adopted by his aunt and uncle with a focus on encouragement for foster parents and kinship adoptions
- Organizational Leadership – 10 Principles of building and leading a healthy organization
- How to Fund Your Adoption – Covering grants, loans, fundraisers and other financial assistance available to help families adopt debt free
Links to Previous Speaking
- Westside Family Church: https://vimeo.com/675555161?share=copy
- RE Conference: https://vimeo.com/675610601/e6269e8577?share=copy#t=2526.379
- The Church at Avenue South: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEyoe73kdHo&t=1s
- 100 Huntley Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxTTZbGLb_g
