Co-hosted with the Division 35, Section 4, Section on Sexual and Gender Diversity
Description
My understanding of leadership does not begin with titles or authority, but with questions about who is heard, who is protected, whose knowledge is valued, and who is asked to bear the costs of change. My experiences of marginalization and community have taught me to question whose voices are centered and whose are left out. As a queer feminist psychologist, my path to leadership has emerged from lived experience and long-standing commitments to human rights, social justice, and advocacy within psychology. Early in my career, I was trained in a discipline that often emphasized “bias-free” science, hierarchy, and individual achievement, even as my own experiences of marginalization pushed me to question those norms and to consider how psychological knowledge, institutions, and professional practices can either reinforce or challenge inequity.
In this webinar, I reflect on key transitions in my professional life, from early-career academic work to leadership and service within APA. Across these roles, my work has focused on teaching, global concerns, human rights, social justice, ethics, and advocacy. I have come to understand leadership, teaching, and service as inextricably intertwined, with advocacy serving as an essential expression of psychology. Advocacy involves more than speaking out against injustice; it also means questioning established assumptions, amplifying perspectives that have been marginalized, challenging inequitable systems, and creating opportunities for meaningful participation and change.
These commitments have implications across the breadth of psychology, including clinical practice, where psychological knowledge and professional values can inform how practitioners understand individual distress in its social and cultural contexts, recognize the effects of discrimination and structural inequity, and consider their ethical responsibilities to the people and communities they serve. Advocacy in clinical settings may involve addressing barriers to care, challenging stigma, and recognizing the broader conditions that shape well-being. Beyond clinical practice, psychologists can contribute through research, education, organizational leadership, public policy, and community engagement. Although these roles differ, they share fundamental questions about whose interests psychology serves, how professional authority is exercised, and what responsibilities accompany psychological expertise.
I invite psychologists to rethink leadership not as a path to power or personal recognition, but as a collective, imperfect, and deeply human practice. Such leadership requires us to connect our professional responsibilities with our ethical commitments, to recognize advocacy as integral to psychology’s contribution to society, and to cultivate relationships and communities in which diverse voices can be heard and meaningful change becomes possible.
CE Information
1 hour of CE
Cost
SCP and Division 35 Section 4 Members: FREE
Non-member: $50
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