It is my great privilege to serve as your President for 2023. This organization has always been my professional home, and I remain honored to be associated with a division full of members who are so passionately engaged in work that serves children and families.
My presidency is focused on A Call to Action. I am calling on our members: researchers, clinicians, practitioners, and those who do work in policy to make meaningful differences as we work toward our shared mission. Division 37 is supporting this Call to Action in several ways. First, we have started hosting a virtual “Coffee & A Call to Action” with experts who use psychological science to promote evidence-based policies supporting children and families. Inaugural speaker Apryl Alexander, PsyD, spoke about her groundbreaking work engaging her students in hands-on policy work at multiple levels. We had phenomenal turnout for this session, including attendees from at least 4 different countries. A special thanks to Member-at-Large for Advocacy Sonia Rubens, PhD, for organizing and coordinating these events. Save the Date for September 8, 2023, when Paula Fite, PhD, and Yo Jackson, PhD, will speak about how to apply research to advocacy. Marilyn Sampilo, PhD MPH, will give a talk in November on advocacy to address health disparities. Stay tuned for announcements on the listserv and social media for our future coffee talks!
As part of our campaign to encourage our members to share the ways in which you are engaged in advocacy, we have also launched a kudoboard. Please use the kudoboardopens in new window to post examples of ways that you have engaged in advocacy in recent years. It can be at the federal, state, or local level, within government or with other agencies or community partners. We look forward to engaging with our members and hearing what you all have been up to through the kudoboard and on our social media. We hope to inspire each other through these posts, we will organize this information into tip sheets to share on our website.
The Call to Action will culminate in advocacy training that will take place in Washington DC the Wednesday before the APA Convention on August 2, 2023. Alongside Division 16, we will co-host a half day workshop with APA on advocacy skills. This workshop will especially focus on skills to use with local lawmakers and on social media. Division members will be given the first chance to sign up so follow our listserv for more information coming soon.
We have a brilliant program for Convention thanks to Program chair Evan McCracken, PhD, and the record number of competitive submissions. Thank each of you who submitted and reviewed proposals. We will share the details of these exciting sessions in our next issue. I am excited to share that my Presidential Symposium will feature Bruce Lesley, President of First Focus on Children. Mr. Lesley has over 30 years of public policy experience at all levels of government and a demonstrated commitment to improving the lives and well-being of children. This session will address current policy and legislation related to children and families and will address how to add advocacy to the work we do so that we can lift up the voices of the children and families we serve and study.
Our board members have been hard at work on your behalf. Our Diverse, Racial, Ethnic, and Multicultural Special Interest Group (DREAM SIG) hosted a successful online event commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Black History Month. Special Guest Speakers included Angela Haeny, PhD, and Charles Grady CEO/Founder Hang Time, and board member Mirian Ofonedu. PhD, LCSW-C.
We are focusing on expanding our membership and creating more opportunities to connect. I challenge each of you to invite two colleagues to join our division’s efforts! Thank you to graduate student representative Rayna Enriquez for helping the membership committee organize this effort. Our next opportunity to gather in-person will be at a networking social hour we are co-hosting with the Section on Child Maltreatment at the Division 41 (American Psychology-Law Society) conference this month in Philadelphia. Let us know if there are other conferences where Division 37 members might gather. Please follow all of our social media (listed below) to stay on top of division news. A special thanks to our Social Media Chair Jenifer Woolard, PhD, for coordinating our online presence, please feel free to email her news, updates, and announcements to be shared on these venues.
It is my honor to work with the outstanding members of our Executive Committee. I hope to use my experience to work toward our division goal of applying research knowledge to policies affecting children and families in a diverse and inclusive society.
Please email me anytime to get more involved in our efforts or just to introduce yourself. It is crucial that we collaborate in our efforts in this call to action to serve children and their families. Get in touch so we can start the conversation.
Social Media
Twitter: @Division37ofAPA
Facebook: Division 37 of the American Psychological Association
Instagram: Division37ofAPA
Linked In: APA Division 37 Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice