Julio César Penagos, PhD, and Vivienne Pecanha, PhD, are presented with this Presidential Citation for their extraordinary collaboration with APA and the advancement of psychology across the Americas.
As the president and president-elect, respectively, of the Sociedad Interamericana de Psicología (SIP), Penagos and Pecanha have been integral in advancing the relationships between SIP, APA, and the global psychology community. Their outstanding collaborative approach has solidified relations and resulted in concrete projects, most notably the groundbreaking continuing education (CE) trainings: Collaborative Horizons. A joint initiative of SIP and APA, Collaborative Horizons provides the first APA-approved CE trainings in Spanish. Going beyond language, Penagos and Pecanha ensured that the trainings will be provided by Latin American experts, ensuring local expertise and applicability.
These outstanding leaders also invited significant APA participation in the SIP conference and will ensure SIP presence at the APA convention. Moving beyond bilateral relations, they have conducted continued mutual and team-oriented engagement in the Global Psychology Alliance, ensuring that Latin American psychology contributes to and learns from the global context, ultimately changing the panorama for our field across the Americas.
For their collaborative engagement, impactful leadership, and ongoing innovations, this Presidential Citation is awarded to Julio César Penagos and Vivienne Pecanha.