Over the past 10 months, we hosted three more online training webinars, maintaining our goal of increasing the frequency of this service for membership from one to three events per year. We carefully selected topics aligned with member interests (gathered from a survey), as well as the social justice and diversity-related initiatives of our outgoing president, Courtney Albinson, PhD. APA informed us that our webinars continue to have some of the highest attendance numbers across all divisions! A massive “thank you” to Sonja Wiggins from APA for all of her work in helping to coordinate these events, as well as the individuals below who, in the past year, have continued to make this possible:
- Nov. 15, 2017: “Optimal performance: Convergent theories and divergent practices in performance psychology” featuring Gloria Park, PhD, MAPP; Sari Shepphird, PhD; Charlie Brown, PhD; and moderated by Kate Hays, PhD
- March 7, 2018: “Beyond allyship: LGBTQ+ inclusive sport psychology practice” featuring Vikki Krane, PhD; Heather Barber, PhD; and Lani Lawrence, PsyD
- July 25, 2018: “Beyond the textbook: Lessons learned while working with athletes with eating disorders” featuring Jessica Bartley, PsyD; Riley Nickols, PhD; and Sharon Chirban, PhD
In the past year, we also worked with our communications chair, Ken Chew, PsyD, HSPP, in building a new addition to the Div. 47 website, dedicated to athlete activism and other topics related to diversity, inclusion and social justice -- including reflections from graduate students and early career professionals (ECPs) on why these issues are important to the work we do.
Our social media pages continue to be a great way of engaging with members. Please check us out on Twitteropens in new window, Facebookopens in new window and LinkedInopens in new window!
Lastly, the 2018 APA Annual Convention in San Francisco offered an impressive range of Div. 47 programming (special shoutout to the amazing work being conducted by students!). We also hosted another wonderful speed mentoring session, attended by students and ECPs. A big thanks to the following professionals for serving as mentors this year: Kensa Gunter, PsyD; Jessica Bartley, PsyD; Bradley Hack, PhD; Leeja Carter, PhD; Brandonn Harris, PhD; Julie Vieselmeyer, PhD; Vince Granito, PhD; and Mitch Abrams, PsyD.
On a more personal note, it has been such an honor to serve you as student rep over the past two years. I have treasured the opportunity to take part in all the initiatives and discussions focused on the future of our field. However, more importantly, I am profoundly grateful for the new relationships – both with members of the Executive Committee and with students across the division. You all make this work so meaningful, and I have been repeatedly inspired by the passion, the hard work, and the interpersonal warmth I have encountered across this field, from students all the way up to seasoned professionals. I am so excited for all of the upcoming work from this year’s amazing student representatives: Marina Galante (senior rep) and Breigh Jones (junior rep), and I look forward to seeing you all at future APA Conventions or elsewhere!