Thank you for your continued support and engagement. I’m honored to serve as president of our growing association. This month with the support of our insightful members, incredible staff, and outstanding board, I have been able to advance the work of APA’s strategic plan by completing the following:
- Met weekly with the CEO, chair of the Council Leadership Team, and members of the Executive Leadership Team to coordinate efforts in alignment with APA’s strategic plan
- Chaired monthly meeting with members who are serving in my Advisory Cabinet
- Released a webinar: How Women In Psychology are Changing the Worldopens in new window, during Women’s History Month featuring Kathryn Anderson, PhD, and Carrie Castañeda-Sound, PhD
- Presented Presidential Citations to Lillian Comas-Diaz, PhD, Derrek Griffith, PhD, Nancy Sidun, PsyD, ABPP, ATR, and Tanya Wood, PhD, for their important contributions to the field of psychology, particularly around culture, trauma, liberation, and advocacy
- Facilitated Board discussions on alignment with strategic plan
- Facilitated a Board meeting with APA’s Needs Assessment Slating and Campaigns Committee (NASCC) about desired qualities of incoming candidates to the Board of Directors and with officials from the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPBB) about the EPPP2 exam
- Presented at the Middle East Psychological Association Convention in Kuwait on Culturally-Informed Trauma Recovery
- Participated in APA’s Advocacy Days on Health Equity, meeting with senators and congressional representatives
- Planned for the APA Annual Convention including opening plenary and presidential programming
- Provided greetings at the kick-off of the 50th anniversary of the Committee on Women in Psychology, of which I am a former member
- Worked with the phenomenal chairs and members of my five presidential initiatives: representation matters documentary, decolonizing and liberation psychology dissemination, multicultural trauma recovery summit, multicultural trauma and grief recovery kits, enhancing APA membership’s belonging and engagement, and the influence of social media on children and youth
- Wrote my third APA Monitor presidential column, this one on trauma recovery in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month
- Met with representatives from APA’s Exploratory Committee on Applied Psychology (ECAP) about the call for nominations that APA will issue to populate APA’s new Committee for the Advancement of General Applied Psychology (CAGAP)
- Participated in a Think Tank for Mental Health Leaders hosted by the Steve Fund
- Met with the Society of Indian Psychologists leaders to plan my offering of an apology to First Peoples on behalf of the American Psychological Association, as supported by the Council of Representatives
- Attended orientation for Global Psychology Mentors and was assigned my mentee who is affiliated with the Haitian Psychological Association
- Met with the Council Leadership Team and Council members of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Advisory Group
- Met with the Council Ombudsperson Le Ondra Clark Harvey
- Began planning Council Town Halls on Solidarity Across Identities
- Gave a Town Hall with APA CEO Arthur C. Evans, Jr., PhD, at the Practice Leadership Conference
- Provided a training with Maysa Akbar, PhD, for the diversity representatives at the Practice Leadership Conference
- Met with APA boards and committees at the Spring Consolidated Meetings to collaborate on our shared vision and priorities
- Hosted Shelly Harrell, PhD, who presented on Culturally Informed Mindful Leadership at the Spring Consolidated Meetings
- Met with Board members individually about their liaison roles to various APA boards and committees
- Represented APA on a number of media outlets including the Dr. Robin Show on Sirius radioopens in new window and the Psychiatry Show, also on Sirius radio
- Participated in the APA Boards and Committees session on Strategic Planning
- Video on Black men’s joy for CNNopens in new window was released
- Met with the Board Executive Committee to preview realignment possibilities
- Presented at the Pepperdine University Diversity Learning Day on my APA focus areas addressing trauma, grief, and oppression with a focus on healing and liberation
Thank you for your support and efforts in service of society and the field of psychology. To reach me, please feel free to email me. To be more engaged, check out my monthly calls to action including the call to engage with our advocacy initiatives.