It is with great privilege that I serve as your president for 2020. As we prepare to enter into a new decade, I am excited to work with the Board of Directors to advance the mission of Div. 37. As a first-generation college student, I have stood on the shoulders of my mentors and taken many opportunities to give back through mentoring the next generation. I began my leadership in APA as a student leader with APAGS, and my passion for serving the profession and my community has continued over the last decade. I hope that the upcoming year will be full of triumphs for Div. 37, and I will remain hopeful that we can work through the challenges to come.
As a psychologist, my career has been dedicated to advancing the public interest and addressing the well-being of children, youth and families. Div. 37 is committed to the application of psychological science to engage in advocacy, social justice, service delivery and public policies to improve the lives of children, youth and families in a diverse and inclusive society. As the first African American male to serve as the division’s president, I am humbled to have the opportunity to serve as president and to help advance our mission. As the only child-focused division to explicitly focus on advocacy for children and families, we are uniquely positioned to use our science to change the lives of people. Most recently, I had the opportunity to work with APA and other experts in the field to draft APA’s Resolution on Child and Adolescent Mental and Behavioral Healthopens in new window. This resolution can be helpful in our work to support policies that address the well-being of youth.
As the 2020 president, my primary goals are to continue the amazing work that we have been doing as a division, and to help “shape the future” of our division for the next decade. As you may know, APA recently approved a new strategic plan that was adopted as policy in February 2019. With that in mind, Div. 37 will be working to create its first strategic plan as an organization. This will lay the foundation for collaborations within the division and more broadly across APA and the field. Secondly, disparities in health and mental health have been consistently demonstrated among diverse and marginalized communities. More recently, there has been an increase in suicide rates among black youth. Given the current sociopolitical climate in the United States, my presidential theme this year is "Advancing Social and Emotional Development among Black Boys through Research, Advocacy, and Community Engagement.” To accomplish this objective, I have appointed a Presidential Task Force (for details, read here) that will facilitate a number of initiatives this year focused on social and emotional development of youth and black boys.
If you’re on Twitter, please follow my official account at Div37 Presidentopens in new window to stay updated. You should also connect with the division on social media at Division37ofAPA. Finally, several programs at convention in Washington, D.C. will focus on my presidential theme. For example, the division programming will include a symposium titled, “Mental Health among Black Boys: Changing the Narrative to Foster Resilience” and a collaborative program (with Divisions 16, 17, 37, 44, 45, 51 and 53; 37 is the lead division) on “Leveraging Science: Engaging in Advocacy to Promote Social and Emotional Development among Youth.” Be sure to look for the complete list of convention programs on our website.
As we begin a new decade, this is an exciting time for our division to grow and expand our creativity to address the needs of children, youth and families. I ask for your support, involvement and expertise to continue improving society.