Fairness, understanding people, access, and safety are all important factors to consider when striving to promote psychological science and knowledge in any domain, including sport. Given this increased focus, coupled with the recognition that EDI was not adequately being addressed withing our organizational structure or initiatives, in February 2023, Division 47: Society for Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology established the two Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Coordinators to serve as members of the Executive Committee (EC) and guide the Division’s efforts in this area.
These positions were appointed during the presidential term of Brandonn Harris, PhD, to serve through the end of the 2024 APA Convention with the goal of transitioning the roles to elected positions during the 2025 election cycle. The inaugural coordinators were Tanya Prewitt-White, PhD, and Kensa Gunter, PsyD, and their primary aim was to strive to inspire an equitable and inclusive culture within the Division and the broader Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology (SEPP) community by facilitating ongoing education, awareness, and systematic change as related to EDI. Additional goals included engaging in advocacy efforts for the well-being of individuals and communities within the world of sport and performance.
Once appointed, their first initiative was to conduct listening tours with the Division 47 presidential trio, the EC, and the general membership. The goal of these virtual meetings was to gather historical information about past diversity initiatives, assess current EDI efforts, identify successes, challenges, and opportunities, reimagine EDI as everyone’s responsibility, and discuss hopes and ideas regarding what EDI within the Division could look like moving forward.
The second initiative involved creating the Diversity Collective (the Collective) which was established in June 2024. The primary purposes of the Collective are to:
- create an opportunity for members to assume an active and key role in working to bring the Division's EDI initiatives to life, and
- curate events, resources, and activities to facilitate professional development and promote individuals’ own evolution as culturally humble practitioners.
The three areas of emphasis are:
- Education: Sponsoring learning opportunities for practitioners to develop self-awareness, skills, and competence in providing culturally responsive services.
- Community: Creating spaces to connect and talk about EDI-related topics with members and the broader SEPP community.
- Partnership: Collaborating with other divisions and organizations for activities and programming.
At present, Chelsi Battle, PhD, and Breigh Jones-Coplin, PsyD, serve as the division’s EDI coordinators and the Collective has 18 members. Under their leadership recent initiatives have included:
- hosting a Communal Care Spaces series,
- facilitating educational webinars for members and the broader SEPP community,
- coordinating the speaker for the Steven R. Heyman Memorial Keynote at the APA Convention, and
- auditing language on our division’s website and in the Policies & Procedures Manual.
Addressing EDI remains everyone’s responsibility but elevating this area within the structure of the Division, particularly establishing EC positions, has allowed us to be more intentional in our efforts.