Lisa Merlo Greene, PhD, is recognized with this APA Citizen Psychologist Presidential Citation for her sustained volunteerism to advocate for improved quality of life in Gainesville, Florida and beyond.
Discouraged by the lack of civil public discourse in addressing problems affecting her community and the nation following the 2016 presidential election, Merlo Greene used social media to encourage individuals in her area to find ways to work together, and ended up connecting with a like-minded individual who lived just a few miles away. Together, they started "Be the Kind," an inclusive organization dedicated to spreading positivity. Since then, they have partnered with a local refugee services organization to host collections and distribution of clothing, household goods, baby supplies and other items to those most in need. They have celebrated Mother's Day at a transitional housing program for women and children experiencing homelessness, written letters of encouragement to individuals being held in immigrant detention facilities, collected school supplies for underserved students, made "blessing bag kits" to distribute to the local population experiencing homelessness, assisted with hurricane relief efforts, adopted a local family for Christmas and more.
Over the past two years, Merlo Greene has also been serving as a founding board member and subject matter expert for Drawn from Valor, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting children and families affected by chronic health conditions by educating through entertainment. In this role, she combines her expertise as a psychologist with her background as a drama major to provide valuable insights and ideas in the development of various projects.
Merlo Greene has seized upon opportunities for engagement over the years. In 2017, for example, she met the mayor of a nearby city while waiting for a meeting with her congressional representative to discuss the importance of mental health parity. They had a discussion on the consequences of the opioid epidemic at the local level. Given her expertise in drug abuse epidemiology, she offered to provide assistance where she could and, weeks later, that mayor invited her to join the Marion County Heroin & Opioid Task Force. Over the past year, Merlo Greene has served on both the task force and its Education & Prevention Subcommittee, providing essential expert knowledge, as well as helping the group access low-cost marketing resources through her connections as a university faculty member.
Other examples of her Citizen Psychologist activities include serving as an Alumnae Advisory Committee member for Alpha Omicron Pi women's fraternity; serving as a Technical Advisor to the Board of Directors of her state's "impaired practitioners" program; and serving as a science fair judge, and volunteering with her local PTA and Girl Scouts, among other activities.