10 psychologists of color at the forefront of racial equity

Psychologists of color are at the forefront of advancing racial equity in mental and behavioral health and wellness. Their work spans various marginalized communities, addressing issues like immigrant trauma, racial socialization, and the need for culturally competent care. These psychologists often face challenges like political shifts, resistance from people in power, and unpredictable funding for racial equity research. Still, they remain committed to promoting inclusion and representation, fostering resilience, and advocating for equitable mental health practices across diverse populations.

The Monitor spoke with 10 notable psychologists who have made significant and inspiring contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion in the field. Their work has led psychology to have a greater impact on society.

• Derald Wing Sue, PhD
• Janet Helms, PhD
• William D. Parham, PhD, ABPP
• Hideko Sera, PsyD
• Joseph P. Gone, PhD
• Kevin Cokley, PhD
• Germine Awad, PhD
• Maryam Jernigan-Noesi, PhD
• Riana Elyse Anderson, PhD
• Alfonso Mercado, PhD

“I’ve always felt from the moment of birth until now that society intended to put me as an outsider. So, on a personal level, I was motivated to find out what was going on and how to begin to build a society that’s inclusive of all varieties of individuals and identities.”
—Derald Wing Sue, PhD
Professor of psychology and education, Teachers College, Columbia University

Though raised in Portland, Oregon, in a wealthy, mostly White neighborhood, Derald Wing Sue, PhD, grew up in poverty, with his family at times relying on welfare. From an early age, he experienced the sting of discrimination, recalling how he was often teased for being Chinese American. These experiences left him feeling like an outsider in his own country.

For Sue, the prejudice he faced was both a source of pain and a catalyst for his life’s work. Conversations with his brothers (two of whom also went on to work in psychology) about the challenges of being Chinese in America, as well as the civil rights movements of the 1960s, shaped his interest in multiculturalism and the psychological effects of racism.

His academic journey led him to study cross-cultural counseling, where he was deeply influenced by the teachings of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. These figures helped shape his understanding of racial dynamics and inspired his commitment to addressing the systemic issues that perpetuate inequality.

Sue’s work on racial equity is perhaps best known for his pioneering research on microaggressions—everyday slights, indignities, and insults that people from marginalized groups endure in day-to-day interactions. He said these subtle forms of discrimination can cause serious damage.

“We found that many microaggressions in the world of work, academia, and medicine did major psychological harm to marginalized groups, whether we’re talking about people of color, people with disabilities, women, LGBTQ. Not only did it have an individual impact, but it also had an impact upon the quality of their life.”

In 1972, Sue and his brother Stanley cofounded the Asian American Psychological Association, which focuses on mental health issues, professional training, education, and collaboration in the Asian American community. He and another brother, David, coauthored Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice, one of the most widely used and respected texts in multicultural counseling. First published in 1981, it is now in its ninth edition and continues to be a cornerstone resource for both professionals and students.

As his research progressed, Sue and his team developed what he calls “microinterventions,” strategies designed to help people and organizations neutralize or dismantle microaggressions. These strategies are categorized into four themes: making the invisible visible, educating the perpetrator, disarming the microaggression, and seeking outside support.

A significant aspect of Sue’s approach to racial equity work is his belief in education over punishment. “We all have committed these blunders, including myself,” he said, highlighting the importance of creating a space where people can learn and grow rather than feel condemned.

Sue is also critical of the way organizations often focus solely on individual biases while ignoring the structural and cultural biases that sustain inequality. He argues that true change requires addressing these systemic issues. “Simply focusing on individual bias is the failure to realize that microaggressions are reflections of worldviews of inclusion and exclusion,” he explained.

Today, Sue continues to work on identifying the challenges faced by different groups, including perpetrators, targets, allies, and bystanders, in the fight against racism. He’s also exploring systemic changes needed at the individual, institutional, and cultural levels to create a truly inclusive society.

Key works

• Sue, D. W., Sue, D., Neville, H. A., & Smith, L. (2022). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice (9th ed.). Wiley.
• Sue, D. W., Alsaidi, S., Awad, M. N., Glaeser, E., Calle, C. Z., & Mendez, N. (2019). Disarming racial microaggressions: Microintervention strategies for targets, White allies, and bystanders. American Psychologist, 74(1), 128–142.

“When I am really scared, I recite some version of ‘the Lord is my shepherd’ from the 23rd Psalm in my head. It helps me to feel that I am not alone. And when I am really happy because I or someone else has achieved some racial justice goal, I hum the theme from the movie Rocky, ‘Gonna Fly Now’: ‘Gonna fly now. Flying high now. Gonna fly, fly.’”
—Janet Helms, PhD
Professor emeritus, Boston College

Psychologists today recognize Janet Helms, PhD’s book A Race Is a Nice Thing to Have: A Guide to Being a White Person or Understanding the White Persons in Your Life as a groundbreaking work on racial identity. But the situation was much different in the early 1990s when Helms first wrote the book. Publisher after publisher rejected it, unwilling to take a chance on a book that challenged the status quo and presented a paradigm shift in understanding race.

Helms decided to take matters into her own hands, turning to self-publishing. With the support of her sister, Jacalyn, she printed copies of A Race Is a Nice Thing to Have and began promoting it by visiting colleges, universities, and conferences across the country. Slowly but surely, the book gained traction through word of mouth and eventually found a publishing home.

Today, A Race Is a Nice Thing to Have is in its third edition and has won numerous accolades. It continues to be a seminal work in psychology, providing valuable insights into the complexities of racial identity. Helms’s journey from self-publishing the book to receiving widespread recognition is a testament to her unwavering dedication and belief in her work.

“There will always be hurdles,” she said. “But what you have to do is look for a way around them.”

Over a nearly 50-year career, Helms has continued to meet barriers head-on, forging a deep expertise in race and related issues. She has authored or coauthored more than 100 publications and amassed more than 30,000 citations. Her work covers a broad range of scientific areas, including racial identity theories, racially conscious practice, and the examination of racial bias in cognitive ability tests and measurement.

Helms approaches equity work with humor and patience. She recognizes that everyone is influenced by societal norms that conform to White, heterosexual male standards. She emphasizes the importance of self-awareness in understanding these influences and helping others see how they affect interactions and systems.

Helms also advocates for honesty about race and encourages people to look at both sides of the story when discussing racial dynamics. “We have to keep the story going to remind people who is really controlling how racial dynamics happen in society and why.”

In 2023, APA Division 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology) established the Janet E. Helms Racial Justice Award. It recognizes significant contributions to advancing racial equity. Helms herself was the inaugural award recipient, reflecting her crucial impact on psychology and lifetime commitment to racial justice and equity. She’s especially proud of this honor.

“The reason I’m happy about it is because it means that at least, for now, we can always keep racial justice as a forefront issue in what we do in counseling psychology.”

In 2023, she was also awarded an APA Presidential Citation. Helms continues to work on projects related to racial bias in cognitive ability tests, advocating for the recognition of different types of intelligence reflected in standardized tests. She’s also the cofounder of Psychologists for Racial Justice, an educational entity that teaches alternative ways of using race in psychology.

Key works

• Helms, J. E. (2020). A race is a nice thing to have: A guide to being a White person or understanding the White persons in your life (3rd ed.). Cognella Press.
• D17CounselingPsych. (2024, March 14). “WHMP” lash: A model for revealing how power and privilege contributes to racial injustice [Video]. YouTube.
• Helms, J. E. (1995). An update of Helms’s White and people of color racial identity models. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (pp. 181–198). Sage Publications, Inc.

“When speaking with individuals, teams, or groups, I add, ‘And the light about which I speak is inside of you and inside each person you allow into your circle of influence. The collective luminance is more than sufficient to light the path on which you travel as you seek to reconcile your struggle!’”
—William D. Parham, PhD, ABPP
Professor at Loyola Marymount University’s School of Education

William Parham, PhD, has dedicated his career to connecting the worlds of psychology, education, and sports, ensuring that mental health and racial equity are at the forefront. His journey is a testament to his commitment to fostering well-being and equity in diverse communities.

From the beginning of his career, Parham has found joy in teaching. “It allows me to engage my students in conversations about the material and about themselves.” This approach is particularly evident in his trauma psychology classes, where students are encouraged to share their personal journeys. Parham believes that understanding context is crucial, stating, “Context is everything. I cannot understand your challenges unless I know the markers of identity that frame who you have become and how others relate to you.”

His work extends beyond the classroom. As the founding director of the National Basketball Player Association’s (NBPA) Mental Health and Wellness Program, established in 2018, Parham has been pivotal in providing mental health resources to NBA players. The program was born out of a response to several marquee players coming forward with their mental health struggles. “It wasn’t just one player but several, in a short period of time, which captured attention,” he explained. The program has since implemented mental health resources in every city with an NBA franchise and developed a mental health literacy portal with nearly 90 resources.

There is a need for culturally competent care for African American athletes, other athletes of color, and those from other countries. Challenges are inevitable in his line of work, but Parham meets them head-on. “I go in with the expectation that there will be roadblocks.” He navigates obstacles such as patient resistance, student opposition, and mental health stigma by seeking clarity on the opponent or roadblock. Parham recalls a piece of wisdom from an elder: “If someone calls you a derogatory name, they give you the gift of crystal clarity. You know exactly where they stand, and you can plan your response accordingly.”

Parham’s work is guided by the belief that “the person comes before the performer” and it’s important that athletes are seen as visible, valued, and appreciated for their individual talents. Whether in the classroom or on the court, he aims to ensure that people feel seen, valued, and supported.

“People don’t care about what you know until they know how much you care.” This philosophy has driven Parham to become a beacon of hope and support in the lives of many, demonstrating the profound impact of compassionate, context-aware mental health care.

Key works

• Parham, W. D. (2020, January 29). If trauma can propel athletes, healing can make them soar. Aeon.
• Henriksen, K., Schinke, R., Moesch, K., McCann, S., Parham, W. D., Larsen, C. H., & Terry, P. (2020). Consensus statement on improving the mental health of high performance athletes. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 18(5), 553–560.
• Choulet, B. (2024, May 28). National Basketball Players Association prioritizes athlete well-being. Forbes.

“My motto has always been, ‘Leave it better than you found it.’ I do not know whose saying this is, but this has been my mantra in teaching, training, and advocacy—with everything I do. My grandparents and parents always said it, and I was surprised to find that many other cultures use the exact phrase.”
—Hideko Sera, PsyD
Executive director of equity, inclusion, and belonging, Morehouse College

In Africa, traditional circular-shaped homes like the itambi in Kenya, made from simple materials such as mud and grass, serve as communal spaces for living. Hideko Sera, PsyD, executive director of equity, inclusion, and belonging (EIB) at Morehouse College (lovingly called The House), adopted this idea of the roundhouse to create the college’s first blueprint for EIB.

“For most of us from communities of color, when we challenge difficult topics, when we come to heal, when we have difficult conversations, we don’t gather in a Eurocentric way. We come to a circle, and that’s how we form these dialogues,” Sera explained.

The blueprint, also inspired by Morehouse alumnus Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of a “world house” where all humanity coexists respectfully, has five goals. They include fostering cultural competence through educational programs, promoting evidence-based approaches in policy-making, and encouraging self-reflective practices among all at the college. It also emphasizes the importance of balancing objective data with the lived experiences of the college community.

Sera, a 2021 APA Presidential Citation recipient, has a groundbreaking role as the first executive director of EIB at Morehouse College. Her approach aims to understand and honor the full spectrum of each person’s intersectionality, including their privileges and marginalized identities.

Sera created a biannual mixed-method assessment to collect campus equity, inclusion, and belonging data. This data-informed approach raised the needs of neurodivergent students, faculty, staff, and first-generation students. Committed to using one’s voice for social justice issues, she also cocreated the Morehouse Advocacy Reaching Capitol Hill (MARCH) Ambassadors Program. The federal advocacy training program prepares students to bring critical problems affecting Black men and communities to the U.S. Congress and the White House.

Over a career spanning nearly 25 years in higher education and psychology, Sera has taught, trained, and advocated for health equity and educational and social justice for marginalized communities. She also believes, “If you can’t see, you can’t be,” and collaborated with the APA Minority Fellowship Program to organize the first “Careers in Psychology” panel on campus in 2023.

Sera has witnessed both support and opposition to EDI efforts. She notes, “There are people who are anti-EDI because they’re threatened by it. And then there’s complacency and collective amnesia. The U.S. tends to be conscious of the importance of EDI only when tragedy strikes us.” Sera shared those sentiments as a panelist at the 2024 APA convention’s main-stage event, “Navigating EDI in the Current Political Landscape.”

For Sera, “There’s no separation between personal and professional. EDI is who we are; this is our life.” She remains committed to ensuring that her work on equity, inclusion, and belonging at Morehouse College provides sustainable and systemic support for diverse groups on campus: “It is not a myopic space as many assume.”

Sera is currently researching specific aspects of belonging for Black male students and is preparing to launch the second iteration of the MARCH program in Spring 2025.

Key works

• Sera, H., & Brown, K. T. (2023). The critical role of historically Black colleges and universities in higher education. In A. Adams (Ed.), The resource handbook for academic deans (pp. 37–47). Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Sera, H., & Wall A. F. (2021). Ichigo-Ichie: How impactful racial justice and transformational changes begin with the urgency of making each encounter meaningful in higher education. In C. Reneau & M. A. Villarreal (Ed.), Handbook of research on leading higher education transformation with social justice, equity, and inclusion (pp. 1–17). Information Science Reference.

“One vital source of inspiration for me has been my late grandmother, Bertha (Gone) Snow [1918–2016], who taught me almost everything I know about what it means to be Aaniiih (Gros Ventre) in today’s world.”
—Joseph P. Gone, PhD
Professor of anthropology and of global health and social medicine, Harvard University

In July 2012, a unique experiment unfolded on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana. Known as the Blackfeet Indian Culture Camp, it aimed to address substance use disorders (SUDs) among American Indian communities through an innovative approach that blended traditional cultural practices with modern treatment methods.

Joseph P. Gone, PhD, teamed up with a residential SUD treatment program for the Blackfeet Nation to reimagine conventional treatment approaches based on traditional Pikuni Blackfeet cultural practices. The concept was simple yet profound: For 12 days, individuals in the program immersed themselves in a series of activities, including pipe ceremonies, sweat lodges, and talking circles designed to reconnect them with their cultural heritage and harness the healing power of Indigenous spirituality and community engagement to address the deep-rooted issues of substance use.

Gone, a psychologist and interdisciplinary social scientist at Harvard University, studies the intersection of coloniality, culture, and mental health in American Indian and other Indigenous communities. His work aims to harness Indigenous knowledge to rethink mental health services.

Gone’s approach to equity is fundamentally anticolonial. He recognizes that the well-being of American Indian and Indigenous peoples is tied to overcoming the legacy of colonialism. This involves rejecting messages of cultural inferiority imposed by colonial powers and reasserting the value of Indigenous knowledge and practices. “Indigenous well-being today is a matter of anticolonial struggle,” Gone said.

Although the Blackfeet camp was a short-term pilot, it made a considerable impact. Participants reported positive life-changing experiences based on the cultural immersion process.

Interestingly, the camp also revealed some challenges, including the limited prospects for obtaining rigorous outcome evidence, as conventional scientific evaluation practices do not always align with Indigenous healing methods. This creates difficulties in securing funding and support from mainstream institutions that prioritize scientifically validated treatments.

Gone, whose tribal affiliation is Aaniiih (Gros Ventre) on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana, suggests that rather than worrying too much about conforming to narrow scientific standards of adequate evidence, Indigenous communities should assert their sovereignty and develop mental health services based on their own traditions and values.

“We have some independence that other communities in the world don’t have, and we can exercise our sovereignty to offer the services that we believe are most helpful to our people.”

This includes building a rationale for the therapeutic benefits of traditional practices and highlighting the limitations of evidence-based practices in mainstream mental health.

Gone is currently working on a partnership with a tribal nation in the Northeast to survey members about their perceptions of the links between health, well-being, and traditional practices. This project aims to tailor mental health services to the community’s specific needs and perspectives.

He’s also editing and writing about his great-grandfather Frederick P. Gone based on a collection of stories and perspectives from elders on the reservation. These writings carry valuable Indigenous knowledge related to health and well-being. He plans to publish these stories to preserve and share this cultural heritage.

Key works

• Gone, J. P., & Calf Looking, P. E. (2015). The Blackfeet Indian Culture Camp: Auditioning an alternative Indigenous treatment for substance use disorders. Psychological Services, 12(2), 83–91.
• Gone, J. P., Tuomi, A., & Fox, N. (2020). The Urban American Indian Traditional Spirituality Program: Promoting Indigenous spiritual practices for health equity. American Journal of Community Psychology, 66(3–4), 279–289.

“The mantra ‘I am because we are, and since we are, therefore I am,’ by philosopher and writer John Mbiti, communicates that an individual’s sense of self is shaped by relationships with others. It communicates an emphasis on community and societal concerns rather than individual concerns. This mantra inspires my racial equity work.”
—Kevin Cokley, PhD
Professor of psychology, University of Michigan

In recent years, there’s been a noticeable uptick in discussion and scientific research about impostor phenomenon—the belief that you’re unworthy of your achievements and the admiration that others have for you. The term “impostor syndrome” has been around since the 1970s, mostly documented in accomplished White women.

But there’s another group affected by this type of self-doubt to which Kevin Cokley, PhD, has dedicated much of his research: African American students. For more than a decade, Cokley, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, has worked to understand more about the “impostor phenomenon” (his preferred term since it’s not a clinical diagnosis) and the unique ways in which it affects historically marginalized groups, including students.

African Americans and other minoritized groups also grapple with issues of racism, racial identity, shame, and underrepresentation, which in an educational setting can contribute to feelings of being an intellectual fraud. Through his research, Cokley critiques the traditional focus on individual flaws and advocates for reconsidering the impostor phenomenon to account for systemic biases and oppressive environments that contribute to these feelings.

His research has also helped shine a light on previously overlooked groups.

“The work that I have done has really helped to open the door for other researchers to start exploring and understanding the impostor phenomenon among minoritized students,” he explained.

One challenge he has faced is accessing enough African American students to participate as research subjects, especially at institutions where their numbers are typically small. For example, at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), where he was previously a faculty member, the number of African American students was around 4%. And at the University of Michigan, where he currently works, the number is slightly higher at 4.5%.

He has overcome this problem by using Qualtrics panels, groups of people who have agreed to regularly take surveys for research purposes. “Of course, this requires money,” Cokley said. “But it has made it much easier to get a geographically diverse sample of African American students for research.”

Another roadblock has been the traditional expectation in psychological research to include White comparison groups, which can perpetuate biases and overlook the unique experiences of historically marginalized groups. Cokley supports within-group studies that focus solely on minoritized populations without the need for comparison to White standards.

Beyond his research, Cokley is proud of his work with students as a professor. While at UT Austin, in the educational psychology department, he mentored the most students of color, and possibly of any racial or ethnic background, who pursued faculty positions. And in 2019, he was the first African American member to be inducted into the University of Texas System Academy of Distinguished Teachers.

Cokley is currently developing a racialized impostor phenomenon scale that will explicitly include racial language to better capture the experiences of African American and other minoritized individuals.

Key works

• Cokley, K., Bernard, D., Stone-Sabali, S., & Awad, G. (2024). Impostor phenomenon in racially/ethnically minoritized groups: Current knowledge and future directions. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 20, 407–430.
• Cokley, K. (2007). Critical issues in the measurement of ethnic and racial identity: A referendum on the state of the field. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54(3), 224–234.
• Cokley, K. (Ed.), (2024). The impostor phenomenon: Psychological research, theory, and interventions. APA.

“I’ve spent a lot of my career trying to make Arab and MENA populations visible in spaces in which they were invisible.”
—Germine Awad, PhD
Professor of psychology, University of Michigan

The next time you receive a U.S. Census or federal form, you may notice new checkboxes in the race and ethnicity section—ones for “Hispanic or Latino” and “Middle Eastern or North African (MENA).” After years of research and discussion by federal officials dating back a decade, the Biden administration approved the new racial category options in 2024.

Germine Awad, PhD, and her colleagues were instrumental in the efforts that resulted in the Office of Management and Budget including a MENA category on the U.S. Census. She advocated for the recognition of this community’s distinct experiences. “I’ve spent a lot of my career trying to make Arab and MENA populations visible in spaces in which they were invisible,” Awad said.

Her work primarily focuses on issues related to prejudice, racism, and discrimination, particularly among Arab Americans, Middle Eastern North African Americans, and African Americans.

She’s also a cofounder and past president of the American Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African Psychological Association (AMENA-Psy), which is dedicated to advancing psychological research, practice, education, and advocacy for the Arab and MENA communities. The association offers resources, training, and support for professionals and students, promotes culturally competent psychological services, and advocates for the well-being of Arab and MENA populations.

Student members of AMENA-Psy led the #WeAreMENA campaign starting in 2020, which aimed to address the exclusion of MENA individuals as a distinct category in U.S. Census data and other research demographics.

“The biggest roadblock has been the lack of data on the MENA community, which in turn, has been used to deny their inclusion,” Awad explained. This exclusion results in a lack of health data, political power, and social services provided to MENA communities in the United States.

The campaign encourages researchers to include a MENA category in their demographic data collection in order to ensure accurate representation and to inform policies and resource allocation for these communities.

Awad’s approach to her work involves identifying what’s needed and then working tenaciously to address those needs. She emphasizes problem-solving, coalition building, and advocating for Arab and MENA visibility and representation.

She also highlights the importance of creating safe spaces, like AMENA-Psy, where communities can receive support from those with similar lived and racial experiences. “We’re going to be the organization that’s going to care about our community the most.”

Political shifts have been challenging, with the previous administration halting progress on the MENA Census category despite prior advancements. Awad noted that navigating the political landscape is crucial for researchers and scholars working on policy changes, as politics can significantly impact the implementation of their work.

Awad is now editing and writing books about the historical use of MENA data and the MENA category in the U.S. Census. She’s also been researching how parents and adolescents perceive the new MENA category and how ethnic and racial socialization takes place within families.

Key works

• Awad, G. H., Kia-Keating, M., & Amer, M. (2019). A model of cumulative racial/ethnic trauma among Americans of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) descent. American Psychologist, 74(1), 76–87.
• Awad, G. H., Abuelezam, N. N., Ajrouch, K. J., & Stiffler, M. J. (2022). Lack of Arab or Middle Eastern and North African (Arab/MENA) health data undermines the assessment of health disparities. American Journal of Public Health, 112(2), 209–212.

“I often meet people who state that they are overwhelmed and need help knowing where to start to promote racial equity and justice. I often remind them of the importance of reimagining their approach to take ownership and accountability for what can be done and what is within our control.”
—Maryam Jernigan-Noesi, PhD
Founder and CEO, Jernigan & Associates, Inc.

When Maryam Jernigan-Noesi, PhD, left academia, a field she worked in for more than 15 years, she knew she wanted to continue advocating for historically marginalized communities and the people who live in them. She’s now doing this in a different capacity, as an applied psychologist and consultant.

Jernigan-Noesi is the founder and CEO of Atlanta-based Jernigan & Associates, Inc., a firm primarily focused on social impact and organizational consulting. Her work spans education, health care, legal, and criminal justice systems, with the goal of creating equitable and inclusive spaces and policies.

One notable project involved developing and implementing the first comprehensive racially conscious and culturally informed training program for more than a thousand psychologists, interns, and support staff in the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons who provide behavioral services to incarcerated individuals. They also made policy-level recommendations for improving assessments, placements, and treatment planning.

“Our criminal justice systems have been highly examined, and there are plenty of racial disparities,” she said. “As a person who’s invested in racial equity, it’s a question of what I can do as a psychologist to ensure that folks who are incarcerated for whatever reason have access to behavioral health services, support, and resources that are racially informed and culturally responsive. And certainly, preserving their humanity was our priority.”

In Massachusetts, Jernigan-Noesi previously used her background in working with youth and families to influence policy shifts in the juvenile court clinic system. She ensured that racial socialization and identity development are included in competencies required for court clinicians who perform assessments, affecting outcomes for youth and families in the juvenile justice system.

Jernigan-Noesi notes that meaningful change requires leaders who are committed to long-term equity work despite changes in the “political winds” (i.e., legislative and political pushback against equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts), particularly in state and federal systems. Another challenge is the reactive nature of systems, which often leads to performative racial awareness and positive identity development responses rather than a commitment to sustainable change.

Looking ahead, Jernigan-Noesi is focused on publishing scholarship that aligns with her racial equity work, including an organizational model developed with her mentor, social scientist, professor, and psychologist Janet Helms, PhD. She’s also writing a book on the importance of explicit conversations about race in early childhood to promote racial awareness and positive identity development from a young age.

This year, she received an honorary degree from Palo Alto University for her humanitarian efforts and work related to racial equity in higher education, and she was the first voted recipient of the Janet E. Helms Racial Justice Award. Such achievements don’t always resonate with Jernigan-Noesi. It’s mostly when other people point out how her efforts have reshaped systems that she stops to consider the impact. In those moments, she is able to reflect on the meaning behind her long-standing career. “You’ve been in this. This is something you’re passionate about.”

Key works

• Garvey, S., Rosa, J., & Jernigan, M. M. (2022). Racial trauma in juvenile justice reform. Boston Bar Association.
• Jernigan, M. M., & Sanders, K. R. (2024). Having “the talk” about race. In G. P. Koocher, et al. (Eds.), The parents’ guide to psychological first aid: Helping children and adolescents cope with predictable life crises (online ed.). Oxford Academic.
• Palo Alto University. (2024, July 1). Palo Alto University commencement ceremony June 15, 2024 [Video]. YouTube.

“The work will take lifetimes to complete, but it is possible.”
—Riana Elyse Anderson, PhD
Associate professor, Columbia University School of Social Work

For Riana Elyse Anderson, PhD, an interest in psychology was sparked by her desire to understand how racial discrimination impacts mental health. “I grew up learning about psychology as the relationship between two things, and I was very interested in racial discrimination and mental health problems among Black adolescents and their families,” she explained.

This interest evolved into a mission to develop tools to intervene and disrupt these relationships. “My work has not only asked the question, how are these things related? [But also] what are the tools that we can use as psychologists to drop-kick this relationship?”

A significant part of Anderson’s work revolves around the concept of racial socialization, which includes “the talk” that Black families have about race and racism. She has developed a theory, measure, and intervention to facilitate better conversations within Black families and to train therapists to support these discussions. “If we know how Black families are talking about it, what are the ways that we can use this tool to then facilitate better conversations between Black families? And how do we better train therapists so that they’re able to support Black families in this conversation?” she asked.

Anderson’s approach is distinctively noncomparative. Rather than comparing Black individuals with other groups, she focuses on their optimal well-being. “I don’t want Black people to be as well as White people. I want them to be optimally well, whatever that looks like.” This perspective aims to elevate optimal care within the Black community, providing resources, support, and tools to help Black people achieve their ultimate joy, well-being, and freedom.

Integrating individual therapy with broader community and policy-level interventions is another hallmark of Anderson’s work. She leverages technology and policy changes to address issues on a macro level. For example, she has been involved in developing an app to support mental health for children of color by considering their unique experiences with racism. This project underscores the need for psychology to keep pace with technological advancements. “We are light-years behind in psychology, understanding that young people are on their phones 10 hours a day, and we’re still trying to hand them paper,” she said.

A key factor in Anderson’s success is the support from networks and mentors within the Black psychology community. “There would be no me, there would be no work that I’m doing, without that very tight-knit community of Black psychologists.” This community has played a crucial role in preparing the next generation of Black psychologists, fostering a sense of resilience and determination.

Anderson is excited about ongoing projects, including writing a book on reparations and exploring how psychological principles can contribute to this movement. She is committed to using her expertise to support Black families and individuals, advocating for their well-being and liberation.

Key works

• Anderson, R. E., & Stevenson, H. (2019). RECASTing racial stress and trauma: Theorizing the healing potential of racial socialization in families. American Psychologist, 74(1), 63–75.
• Mills, K. (2022, May 25). Racism, racial discrimination, and mental health (No. 192) [podcast]. Speaking of Psychology.
• TEDx Detroit. (2021, November 9). Vaccinating children against the American endemic: How we can treat the virus of racism [video]. YouTube.

“Being a psychologist, I’ve found that doing work that highlights human rights, the realities of health care disparities, and anti-immigration policies is embedded in our ethical code of conduct.”
—Alfonso Mercado, PhD
Professor of psychological science, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

In 2012, APA published the influential report Crossroads: The Psychology of Immigration in the New Century. The report examined the psychological dimensions of immigration and how it impacts individuals, families, and communities.

More than a decade later, against the backdrop of heightened anti-immigrant rhetoric and more foreign-born people arriving in the United States, there is a deeper understanding of the psychological and traumatic experiences connected to immigration. A new task force, the APA 2024 Presidential Task Force on Immigration and Health, has released an updated report reflecting that new knowledge.

The updated report, Psychological Science and Immigration Today, reflects more diversity among immigrants’ countries of origin and identities. More immigrants are now arriving in the United States as families or unaccompanied youth.

The chair of the task force, Alfonso Mercado, PhD, is a professor of psychological science at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. His work focuses on racially marginalized populations, particularly immigrant groups such as asylum seekers and DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients.

Mercado explained that the recently published report, which he and his colleagues presented at the International Congress of Psychology Conference in July and APA 2024 in August, also expanded its focus to include the alarming rates of trauma among immigrants, as well as hostility toward this group and health equity concerns. Many immigrants don’t have access to health care, an issue Mercado strives to amplify in his work.

“Health care disparities exist; they’re real. How can I make a difference? Being a psychologist, I’ve found that doing work that highlights human rights, the realities of health care disparities, and anti-immigration policies is embedded in our ethical code of conduct.”

Mercado, the child of immigrants from Mexico, lives and works near the U.S.-Mexico border. His community grapples with a critical shortage of psychologists who provide trauma-informed, culturally competent health care for immigrants. Collaborating with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement, Mercado and his students have conducted psychological evaluations on immigrant children separated from their families.

The politicization of his work and a lack of funding for health equity research related to immigrant populations have been challenges. Mercado and his colleagues on the presidential task force have called on APA to advocate for more of this type of funding.

His team is now working on elevating guidelines for psychological evaluations in immigration court settings and developing training programs for psychologists to work with immigrant populations effectively.

Despite the challenges, Mercado said his career has been rewarding. “And the students love this kind of work because they realize that they can make a difference.”

Key works

• Mercado, A., & Venta, A. (2022). Cultural competency in psychological assessment: Working effectively with Latinx populations. Oxford University Press.
• Mercado, A., Antuña, C. S., Bailey, C., Garcini, L., Hass, G. A., Henderson, C., Koslofsky, S., Morales, F., & Venta, A. (2022). Professional guidelines for psychological evaluations in immigration proceedings. Journal of Latinx Psychology, 10(4), 253–276.
• Mercado, A., Venta, A., Morales, F., Palomin, A., Garcini, L., Silva, M., & Domenech-Rodriguez, M. (2024). Trauma in the American asylum process: Experiences of immigrant families under the migrant protection protocols. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 16(Suppl 2), S379–S388.