President’s report: Tables and chairs

“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”
- Shirley Chisholm

Dear Colleagues,

It was wonderful to see so many of you in San Francisco. At convention, I had the honor and privilege of presenting awards to SPTA leaders and advocates and I was incredibly encouraged by the work that these leaders are doing on behalf of the profession. Congratulations to all of the award recipients.

During convention, council took a historic vote to move forward with transitioning APA to an integrated (C)(3)/(C)(6) advocacy model. Council approved the allocation of 2019 member dues 60 percent to the (C)(6) and 40 percent to the (C)(3), and (C)(6) bylaw changes which will sunset the APAPO and the Committee for the Advancement of Professional Practice (CAPP) and expand the work of the (C)(6) to all directorates and create a new Advocacy Coordinating Committee.

As we know, SPTAs are the training ground for psychologist advocates and, with CAPP retiring into the sunset, Div. 31 needs to seriously consider how SPTA leaders and advocates can lead in the new integrated (C)(3)/(C)(6) model. The loss of CAPP includes the loss of a dedicated SPTA slate and an appointed seat for a member from the Council of Executives of State and Provincial Psychological Association’s, both of which were incredible advocacy avenues for SPTAs in the (C)(6) part of the organization.

So what is the plan? During Div. 31’s August Executive Committee meeting, we committed to developing a leadership pipeline for SPTA leaders in APA. I am personally going to take the lead in developing a leadership pool during my past presidential year. We must be at the table in order to ensure that SPTA issues are being considered in the new unified APA.

What can you do? Nominate yourself and other SPTA leaders for positions in APA boards and committees. Encourage your SPTA student and ECP leaders to get involved in APA governance. Look for the call for nominations for the Advocacy Coordinating Committee and submit nominations from your SPTA. Finally, help me develop the Div. 31 leadership pipeline by sending the names of great SPTA leaders to my inbox.

I will end with one of my favorite quotes that sums up the spirit of the work we have ahead of us…