Early Career Global Psychology Grants

APA’s (APA) Committee on Early Career Psychologists (CECP) is pleased to announce their Early Career Global Psychology Grants. CECP is excited to award grants that align with their strategic priorities. Grants will be given to support the implementation of psychological services/programs or research projects in any area of psychology that 1) are not eligible or likely to receive financial support from other funding agencies, and 2) are not likely feasible without the funding support.

Awardees will be selected and granted a maximum of $2,500 each. Funds must be utilized to support work related to global psychology and address the needs of underserved populations facing documented barriers to care, including but not limited to communities disproportionately affected by social, economic, or geographic disadvantage.

Examples of the type of services/programs CECP is seeking to support include, but in no way are limited to:

• services that provide evidence-based training to community serving organizations;
• mental health workshops; and
• professional development programs for community staff providers.

Grant and award program equity statement

APA is committed to equal opportunity and nondiscrimination in all aspects of its grant and award programs. We actively engage in outreach to all communities, seeking broad and inclusive participation.

Our selection process is merit-based and objective. Eligibility criteria relate directly to the specific skills, qualifications, and competencies required for each program. All applications are evaluated using objective, measurable criteria without regard to race, gender, or other protected characteristics.

The project must be completed by December 1, 2026.

• Applicants must be an APA member.
• Applicants should have received a doctorate degree in psychology within the last 10 years.
• Awardees must agree to allow CECP to publicize their work through some type of public forum, either in-person or virtually, at an APA convention or a CECP sponsored event.
• The clinical or research project must involve work related to global psychology.
• The project must have a significant impact on psychology and/or society.
• Awardees must commit to completing a semi-annual progress report and virtual meeting with CECP.

Submission materials

Applicants will need to address the following sections (150 word maximum per question): 

• Description of the problem being addressed 
• Detailed description of the clinical or research project to be implemented 
• Description of the ways that psychological science supports the proposed project and intended outcomes (evidence base) 
• Clearly outlined and measurable goals of the proposed project (feasibility) 
• Description of how you will measure the impact of your program or project
• Description of significant international element 
• Description of funding need and proposed budget. Please note: 
• • Funds may not be used to support indirect or overhead costs, participant travel, or to compensate the awardee or other individuals who are conducting clinical services or research 
  • The proposed services/project must not generate any revenue for the participants, employers, or their work setting. If participant fees are to be collected, they must be designated to a specific charitable organization. Please describe this in the budget proposal

Apply onlineopens in new window

APA awards and grants may be subject to U.S. federal income tax withholding. Grant recipients will need to complete an IRS Form W-9opens in new window or a IRS Form W-8BENopens in new window (international members) prior to disbursement of funds.

Applicants must complete the online application form. The deadline for applications is October 20, 2025.

2025

Madeline Stenersen, PhD
Stenersen’s 12-month qualitative study examines how recent funding changes including but not limited to the elimination of Program to End Modern Slavery and U.S. Agency for International Development funding have affected psychological services for trafficking survivors in Southeast Asia. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with 15 mental healthcare providers and organizational administrators working at anti-trafficking/exploitation-based programs in Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar. Interviews will investigate: (1) immediate impacts on psychological service delivery; (2) effects on service availability, implementation, staff wellbeing, client care, and organizational stability; (3) organizational preparedness for funding disruptions; and (4) post-cut adaptations in organizational strategy, funding portfolios, and service provision.

Diagou Sissoko, PhD
Sissoko’s project will generate formative qualitative data to inform a colorism-focused adaptation of IMARA, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention evidence-based HIV prevention program for adolescent girls and maternal figures (MF). In collaboration with the Center for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia, Sissoko’s team will conduct focus groups and in-depth interviews with adolescent girls and young women and MF to explore how colorism influences self-worth, sexual risk behaviors, and family communication about relationships and sexual health. Following data collection, their team will reconvene Community Advisory Boards (CABs) to collaboratively design a colorism-specific module for IMARA. This two-phase project will be implemented during the applicant’s February 2026 visit to Zambia, in coordination with trained local qualitative researchers. Activities include interviewer training, CAB workshops, and iterative feedback sessions. Findings will directly inform the adaptation of IMARA to ensure its relevance and acceptability for Zambian girls, laying the groundwork for a future intervention development study.

2023

Dieu Truong, PhD
Truong’s pilot study aims to evaluate how Vietnamese autistic youth and families in Vietnam conceptualize executive functioning (EF) and how they view these skills in fostering positive functional and social-emotional outcomes within the sociocultural context of Vietnam. The findings from this study will provide an important foundational step in developing a framework that addresses the perception of EF and outlines culturally relevant approaches needed to be included in a Vietnamese EF intervention program.

Jonah Li, PhD
Li’s proposed study aims to examine the potential moderating role of dialectical coping on the relation between perceived stress and Chinese indigenous well-being (peace of mind, meaning in life, and somatization) among Hong Kong people. The study is expected to have a direct, positive impact on 400 participants by psychoeducating them about the psychological benefits of dialectical coping on well-being and practical strategies on applying dialectical coping strategies (based on scale items and existing coping strategies research).

Rachael Wittern, PhD
Wittern’s project will provide baseline data on mental health of Ukrainian refugees currently living in the United States, gathered from mental health screening measures (Depressive symptoms: PHQ-9, Anxious symptoms: GAD-7, Trauma-related symptoms: PCL-5) and quality of life measures (Well-being: BBC-SWB, positive mental health: PMH scale). These measures will be translated into Ukrainian by bilingual mental health professionals. Additionally, this project will examine potential factors related to mental health outcomes (demographic, loss and guilt, cognitive flexibility, and religiosity/spirituality) in this population to provide a more detailed understanding of their needs.

2021

Rosanna Breaux, PhD
“Examining Parent Emotion Socialization Practices among Indian Parents of Preschoolers”. This study will provide an important first step in understanding the emotion socialization (ES) practices of preschool children’s positive and negative emotions, and parental beliefs about children’s emotions in India. This grant would support the acquire empirical knowledge on ES practices among parents of preschoolers in India, through assessment of parents’ beliefs about children’s emotions and parent responses to children’s emotions. The proposed project will support data collection that can be used to adapt an existing intervention (Parenting Hyperactive Preschoolers25) that targets the social-emotional development of preschoolers, based on identified values and beliefs of parents.

Chathuri R. Illapperuma-Wood, PhD
“Developing a Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Mental Health Literacy Program for Educators in Sri Lanka”. The proposed project will include the development of a culturally and linguistically sensitive mental health literacy training program for educators. The proposed project will translate selected e-learning modules from an existing training program in the United States, as deemed needed and fit with the education system in Sri Lanka. The e-learning modules will consist of content that include safe and supportive environments for children and adolescents, biological bases of behavior, mental health literacy and stigma, social emotional competencies and well-being, and the impact of trauma on learning and behavior. The training program will be freely accessible to educators in the school participating in the project’s pilot efforts. The researcher will collaborate with the Sri Lankan Psychological Association to oversee project development and implementation efforts on-site as well as to recruit consultants and translational support personnel.