Co-creating APA's Future

"After 10 months spent co-creating a new strategic plan for the association with thousands of members and non-members, APA's Council of Representatives has embraced a transformative roadmap for our organization. Our new strategic priorities will guide all of APA/APA Services, Inc.’s decision making and actions for the next three to five years and ensure that we can have a truly significant impact in carrying out our mission to benefit society and improve people’s lives. I am excited for how this framework can strengthen and move forward our organization and the field of psychology.” — Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, CEO APA/APA Services, Inc.

To view the plan, visit the Strategic Plan webpage. Updates on the implementation process and the collective effort that went into developing APA's strategic plan appear below, with the most recent report appearing first. 

Posted Feb. 19, 2019

By APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD

I am pleased to announce that APA’s Council of Representatives has approved a new strategic plan, which will enable us to focus the association’s efforts toward maximizing the impact we can have on complex issues facing the field of psychology and broader society. To learn more, visit the Strategic Plan webpage.

Thank you to members and non-members who took the time to weigh in over the last ten months with your meaningful and thoughtful comments and ideas. I am immensely proud of the new strategic plan that we have co-created and believe that APA is positioned to have a truly significant impact in accomplishing our mission of benefiting society and improving lives. 

Moving forward, APA will be taking a transformative approach to implementation, ensuring that all of our decision making and actions are aligned with our new strategic priorities. By engaging in a highly interactive implementation process that taps into the broad expertise of our members and leaders, we can ensure that psychology realizes its true potential as a force for a better world.

Posted Feb. 8, 2019

Over the last several weeks, a draft strategic plan has been reviewed by the Board of Directors, and many boards, committees and other affiliated groups. Members have commented via the public comment period and in a series of webinars. Your feedback has helped shape this three- to five-year road map for the association. 

Now, after 10 months and hundreds of hours of gathering input and synthesizing the feedback, APA’s Council of Representatives will consider the new strategic plan for adoption during its upcoming meeting on Feb. 15–17. 

Watch the blog for updates and direct any questions to strategicplan@apa.org. 

Public comment period on draft strategic plan is now open

Posted Jan. 10, 2019

Many of you have weighed in over the last seven months as the American Psychological Association has worked to create a new strategic plan. Your feedback has greatly informed the development of a draft documentopens in new window (PDF, 237KB), which is now under review by the full APA membership. 

Your continued input is critical, so please weigh in during the public comment periodopens in new window (Dec. 19, 2018–Jan. 19, 2019) by reading the document and offering any additional feedback online. 

As always, feel free to direct questions to strategicplan@apa.org.

Posted Oct. 31, 2018

We want to know your perspective on the discipline of psychology and APA's priorities for the next several years. We will field a series of brief, targeted surveys in fall 2018 on select topics.

The most recent survey is closed. We'll post more surveys soon.

Posted Oct. 30, 2018

By APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD

Since June, thousands of individuals have shared their hopes and ideas for APA's future to help the association chart a new roadmap for the years ahead. We have heard from students and early career psychologists as well as those who have been working in the field for decades. Leaders of APA governance groups, divisions, and state, provincial and territorial psychological associations have contributed their voices as have past APA presidents, staff and even non-APA members. The variety of perspectives offered has given us valuable insight into the issues and opportunities that face the entire field and the profession now and in the years to come.

We are further broadening our view by reaching out beyond U.S. borders to the leadership of international psychology organizations, asking for their perspective on how APA can better collaborate with our global partners to have an impact on major issues facing the field and society at large.

The Research

Members of the Council of Representatives, board and committee chairs, division leadership, state leadership and past APA presidents participated in individual Leadership Conversations about the strategic plan. In fact, nearly 200 psychology leaders answered open-ended questions during in-depth phone interviews, totaling over 12,000 minutes of interview time.

In addition, almost 10,000 members and nonmembers responded to our strategic plan survey on what is needed for the viability and success of psychology, top goals that APA should focus on and professional challenges faced today.

Working Toward Consensus

The individuals we have heard from so far are thinking seriously about the future of psychology and how APA can position the field to take on major issues. Some themes that we have heard fairly consistently include:

• Promoting the value of psychology to the public
• Positioning psychology for the future
• Serving as the voice for psychology and all psychologists
• Addressing critical societal issues using psychological science.

To get there, individuals ask that:

• Members' voices are heard, while being transparent and inclusive
• The breadth of psychology – from basic and applied research to education and training to clinical and applied practice – is represented within APA.

Next Steps

We appreciate the input you have already provided and ask that you continue to share your thoughts and ideas as the strategic plan development process moves forward. For instance, we will be asking for your input on select topic areas with a series of very brief surveys. Please look out for emails with details about these surveys and other upcoming opportunities to weigh in with your feedback on the developing strategic plan soon.

In the meantime, we encourage you to send your thoughts and ideas at by email to strategicplan@apa.org.

The information in this post provides a snapshot, as of the publication date, of some of the most recent work underway on APA's strategic plan. This post is not meant to be a comprehensive account of this work, but rather to provide insight into some of the top-level themes that are emerging during conversations with members, including governance leaders. Your input is always welcome at strategicplan@apa.org.

Posted Sept. 20, 2018

By APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD

A diverse APA benefits the discipline and profession of psychology as well as society. As we continue to gather input from leaders across the organization, staff, and the broader membership to inform the development of APA’s new strategic plan, the importance of diversity and inclusion to our work and processes is a theme that has been raised repeatedly. 

We have asked Kumea Shorter-Gooden, PhD, an APA member consultant, to advise the organization on the development of a comprehensive diversity and inclusion framework. Dr. Shorter-Gooden presented an outline of this framework to our Council of Representatives (COR) and the Board of Directors at the annual convention last month and will continue to solicit feedback from COR, the board and the broader membership as the framework continues to evolve. 

In addition, Dr. Gooden and APA’s Diversity and Inclusion staff working group have been highly engaged with the strategic planning process to help ensure that diversity and inclusion are well integrated into the new strategic plan.

While this endeavor is underway, we would like to hear what you think about this issue:

How can we continue to promote a strong, inclusive and diverse APA?

Please send your thoughts and ideas directly to strategicplan@apa.org or click on the "Send Us Your Comments" button below to submit via the contact form. 

Thank you for sharing your voice with us and helping to move APA forward. 

Send Us Your Comments

Posted Sept. 5, 2018

By APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD

I am asking for your help in ensuring we include as many voices as possible in crafting a new strategic plan for the American Psychological Association. 

Wait, please keep reading.

I know people are skeptical about strategic plans, because they are often ignored or used to justify what is already happening. That is not what will happen here. APA’s new strategic plan will help drive where APA is heading, and our staff will be given metrics to ensure that we are achieving what our Council of Representatives has agreed are our goals.

That’s why broad input is so important.

Would you encourage your colleagues or members to help us understand what psychologists want from APA?

As APA’s CEO, I view this undertaking as a unique opportunity for us to shape the way we serve our members, develop initiatives that benefit society and improve people’s lives, and advance the discipline and profession of psychology. 

To ensure we get the best result, we need everyone’s voice.

I want to be clear. We need as much feedback as possible — from members and nonmembers alike. We want to hear from students. From researchers. From faculty members. From people who have been in the field for decades and people who are just beginning their careers.

From you.

Posted Aug. 28, 2018 

By APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD

At APA’s annual convention in San Francisco earlier in August, I was energized by the conversations I had with so many of you about APA’s future. One theme was repeated frequently: The field needs to develop a stronger collective identity, first and foremost as psychologists, and second as a scientists, practitioners, educators and social advocates for APA, to maximize its impact going forward.

So I wanted to pose the question to all of you:

As an organization, APA represents all of psychology. How do we most effectively unify the field and create “one APA” while also addressing the needs and interests of psychology’s many subdisciplines and specialty areas?

Posted Aug. 6, 2018

By APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD

Over the last several months, I have been so impressed by the tremendous level of member involvement in co-creating a new strategic plan for our organization. I am grateful for your engagement ― and eager to hear from even more members.

In the coming weeks, we are offering additional ways for you to include your voice and perspective in the growing conversation about APA's future, including a survey and in-person meetings during APA’s 2018 convention.

Member Survey

We distributed a strategic plan survey to all 115,700 APA members this week (July 31). Look for an email with a personalized link to the survey where you can share your ideas, priorities and hopes for our collective future. We estimate it will take less than 10 minutes to complete. For those of you attending the convention, you will also have the option of completing this survey at interactive kiosks located throughout the event space.

If you do not have an email address on file with APA, look for a letter from me with a print out of the survey; simply complete and return it to us using the envelope provided.

Focus Groups

Thousands of APA members are preparing to convene for four days in August in San Francisco to connect, engage and learn during our annual convention. And we are preparing, too ― to listen to your ideas and feedback.

We are recruiting participants for a series of two-hour focus group sessions on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (Aug. 9-11) during the event. Check your inbox for an email with the subject line, “Co-create APA’s Future ― San Francisco Focus Groups,” for details. Limited spots are available, so reserve your space today.

Conversation Hours

Also scheduled during APA’s 2018 convention are a series of informal conversation hours for early career psychologists, graduate students and others. Drop in for an exchange of ideas about APA’s future with APA’s David W. Ballard, PsyD, MBA, assistant executive director for Organizational Excellence and Ian D. King, MBA, executive director, Membership. See here for dates, times and locationsopens in new window. 

Not going to convention? We strongly encourage you to complete the online survey and feel free to submit additional comments to strategicplan@apa.org. A new vision takes all of us, and we want to hear from you.

Check back here for regular strategic plan updates and direct any questions to strategicplan@apa.org.

Let's keep moving APA forward.

Note: The information in this post provides a snapshot, as of the publication date, of some of the most recent work underway on APA's strategic plan. This post is not meant to be a comprehensive account of this work, but rather to provide insight into some of the top-level themes that are emerging during conversations with members, including governance leaders. Your input is always welcome at strategicplan@apa.org.

Posted July 12, 2018

By APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD

APA is made up of people who dream big and lead the discipline and profession of psychology. This is evident as we hear from the APA community during the current data gathering phase of our strategic planning process. From leadership conversations to focus groups, we see engagement around our organization's purpose, direction and action.

It is inspiring to see the range of powerful themes that have emerged so far as potentially important to the future strategic directions of APA. These themes include, but are not limited to:

• Ensuring that APA activities share a core commitment to science and scientific principles.
• Highlighting the role and significant impacts of general and applied psychology.  
• Championing diversity.
• Promoting ethics and social justice.
• Supporting graduate students and early career psychologists.
• Reinforcing APA's commitment to the practice community.
• Building the education pipeline.

Our data gathering and discovery activities are also externally focused. We are scanning the market to better understand emerging issues, trends, best practices, business models, product and service offerings, value propositions and pricing of relevant organizations. This will enable us to surface new ideas and critical trends for APA.

As always, we invite your participation in the strategic planning process. Watch for the full membership survey that will be launched this summer along with opportunities to participate in focus groups and interviews. Please send your ideas and feedback by email anytime to strategicplan@apa.org.

The information in this post provides a snapshot, as of the publication date, of some of the most recent work underway on APA's strategic plan. This post is not meant to be a comprehensive account of this work, but rather to provide insight into some of the top-level themes that are emerging during conversations with members, including governance leaders. Your input is always welcome at strategicplan@apa.org. 

Posted June 7, 2018

By APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD

The Board of Directors gathered at APA Headquarters in late April for the first of their two annual retreats. Members met with APA staff and the external strategic consultants about the strategic plan. 

Over the course of the session, the board participated in an exercise where they identified major challenges and opportunities facing APA, the field, and the discipline. This is part of an ongoing series of discussions about APA’s future that the board will be having during the strategic planning process. In this particular conversation, the board arrived at five overarching areas to consider in the further development of the strategic plan:

Expanding APA’s Advocacy and Influence

The expansion of APA’s advocacy efforts and overall legislative influence surfaced as both a prime opportunity and a serious challenge over the next five years. The group identified a number of specific sub-areas, including increasing influence on public policy and laws, garnering increased funding for basic and applied research, and amplifying the voice of psychology and psychologists on critical social issues.

Solving Public Health and Social Issues

Psychology has a critical role to play in solving public health and social issues. In particular, increasing access to affordable mental health care to improve the health and well-being of individuals, families, organizations, and communities is of high importance to the organization. Additionally, APA needs to be strategically focused on identifying important social issues and developing broad solutions based on psychological science.

Representing Psychology Across Disciplines

Psychological science continues to play an increasingly prevalent and influential role across a range of disciplines. For example, psychology’s principles and research can and should be applied to areas including artificial intelligence, technology and technological innovation, and big data. Psychology should have a seat at the table and be an active participant in all major efforts to address these topics.

Fostering Psychology as a Global Discipline

APA should expand its efforts to build meaningful international collaborations and help its partners develop systems and activities that reflect the unique cultures they serve. Success in this area will reinforce and expand our influence, impact, reach, and membership and strengthen the knowledge base regarding diversity and cultural implications for psychology research and practice.

Promoting and Expanding Outward-Facing Efforts

An increased focus on and the successful promotion and expansion of outward-facing efforts will not only improve the brand equity of APA, but also expand the field and discipline of psychology in a meaningful way by increasing public awareness and understanding of psychology. These efforts can be fueled by partnerships with other national organizations that have shared interests and related missions, as well as investing in and growing APA’s efforts in K-12 education, increasing public knowledge of mental and behavioral health, and ultimately expanding interest and participation in the field of psychology.

In the coming weeks, members of council, boards, committees, divisions, state leaders and the general membership, as well as APA staff, will have multiple opportunities to provide insights. We will keep you informed as this effort moves forward.

What do you think should be the priorities of the association going forward? Send your comments to strategicplan@apa.org.

Note: The information in this post provides a snapshot, as of the publication date, of some of the most recent work underway on APA's strategic plan. This post is not meant to be a comprehensive account of this work, but rather to provide insight into some of the top-level themes that are emerging during conversations with members, including governance leaders. Your input is always welcome at strategicplan@apa.org.

Posted May 31, 2018

By APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD

When the 283 volunteer leaders from many of APA’s boards and committees gathered for their Spring Consolidated Meetings, one of the first items on the agenda was to conduct an initial visioning exercise for the strategic planning process. 

The question posed to the group was simple: If APA were to appear on the front page of The New York Times 10 years from now, what would you want the headline to say? 

Leaders at the meeting worked with those at their tables to craft an answer, and the conversations were fascinating. Participants from each table group discussed an impressive collection of thoughtful, insightful and visionary ideas, which will provide excellent grounding for the strategic planning work that lies ahead. Here is the report from the consultants about what they heard. 

Several primary themes emerged during the session:

Increasing the Influence and Leadership of Psychology and the APA

Many governance leaders said that as an organization, APA needs to focus on ensuring that psychologists are well represented in leadership roles in government (e.g., cabinet level, federal/state/local legislative bodies and agencies), industry (e.g., corporate and nonprofit leadership, boards of directors, industry groups), health care (e.g. health systems, insurers) and educational institutions.

Improving Mental and Behavioral Health

A number of people at the tables said that APA should play an important role in the future of public mental and behavioral health. Some noted that APA can be a powerful player in an effort to mend and strengthen communities by bringing behavioral health issues to the forefront (e.g., help bring an end to the opioid crisis), securing universal access to mental health services and eradicating the stigma associated with mental health issues.

Building and Expanding our Advocacy Efforts

Advocacy objectives that leadership participants identified as important include: 

• Increasing payment and reimbursement rates for psychological services.
• Increasing the overall advocacy budget to grow APA’s influence.
• Working to increase the funding for basic and applied psychological research.

Additional Themes

A range of other broad themes surfaced during the conversations, including expanding and increasing the diversity of the membership, increasing the diversity of APA leadership, increasing APA’s global psychology leadership, promoting psychology as a discipline and expanding APA’s impact on technology.

Despite the variety in ideas discussed, the “headlines” the tables came up with shared a common thread: Almost all envisioned APA as a transformational change agent with a leadership role in improving the well-being of society.

What is your answer to this question and why? If APA were to appear on the front page of The New York Times 10 years from now, what would you want the headline to say? Email us at strategicplan@apa.org and let us know.

Note: The information in this post provides a snapshot, as of the publication date, of some of the most recent work underway on APA's strategic plan. This post is not meant to be a comprehensive account of this work, but rather to provide insight into some of the top-level themes that are emerging during conversations with members, including governance leaders. Your input is always welcome at strategicplan@apa.org.

Posted May 16, 2018

By APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD

The work is beginning to co-create APA’s next strategic plan — a 5- to 7-year roadmap to guide the association’s actions and define our contributions to psychology and society. APA's first strategic planopens in new window was developed in 2011. When I came on board as CEO in 2017, the Board of Directors charged me with leading the process to develop a new strategic plan and presenting that plan to APA's Council of Representatives for approval. 

As APA’s CEO, I view this undertaking as a unique opportunity for us to shape the way we serve our members, deliver programs that benefit society and improve people’s lives, and advocate for the field and the discipline. To ensure we get the best result, we need everyone’s voice.

Goals

Timeline

• Phase one: Data gathering. Over the coming months you will have numerous opportunities to offer your perspective, from surveys, to focus groups, to many opportunities to offer comments and feedback online. My goal is to ensure that your ideas are captured, considered and applied in the development of the plan. The target date to accomplish this piece of the plan is August 2018.
• Phase two: Synthesis. The second phase will involve a synthesis of the input offered, and a feedback loop to the members, governance and staff to share what was heard and see what still might need to be captured. The target date to accomplish this piece of the plan is October 2018.
• Phase three: Plan development. The third phase will take all the input and data gathered and use this information to craft the strategic goals and objectives. This phase will also involve a draft implementation plan, including metrics, to focus on whether the aspirations we have developed can be made actionable. The target date to accomplish this piece of the plan is early December 2018.
• Phase four: Sharing the result. The last phase of plan development will share the draft plan with members, leadership and staff, using tools like webinars and this website, as well as presentations and conversations at convenings like the December 2018 Board meeting. This piece of the plan will culminate in early February 2019 with a presentation at the Council of Representatives meeting, where Council will vote on whether to adopt the plan.

Team 

Co-creating a vision means starting with our members and leadership and working with a highly successful consultant and a handful of expert staff to facilitate the process. 

• Staff leads: The process of developing the strategic plan is being co-led by David Ballard, PsyD, MBA, director of APA’s Center for Organizational Excellence, and Ian King, MBA, executive director of membership.
• Consultant: APA has retained Sequence Consulting, which specializes in working with associations. Sequence has helped leading organizations, such as the American Medical Association, American Chemical Society, American Bar Association and AARP, achieve transformational change. 

Co-creating a vision will, by definition, take all of us. I look forward to working together with you all to move APA forward.