Racial and ethnic justice

My scholarly expertise is in psychology and law, and I will use APA’s institutional voice to push for structural change in the criminal legal system. We will advocate for reforms to policing policies grounded in research on how disparities arise from the system itself, opposing the use of facial recognition technology that disproportionately misidentifies Black and Latinx people, and supporting compensation for the wrongfully convicted. I will also support APA’s continued convening of groups such as the recent Summit on the mental health of Black boys and men, work that must attend to how race, gender, sexual orientation, and class intersect to shape mental health needs.

Training pipeline and workforce diversity

A field that is serious about access and equity must invest in who enters it. Federal attacks on student loan programs threaten to make doctoral training accessible only to those who are already wealthy, narrowing our pipeline in ways that will set back workforce diversity for years. I will work to protect federal loan and repayment programs and expand undergraduates’ access to meaningful research experience, the kind that programs like McNair have shown makes a measurable difference for first-generation and underrepresented students.

Scope of practice

Psychology’s workforce is changing, and APA must help define what that means rather than leave the question to others. If elected, I will convene a task force to work through scope of practice questions across the full spectrum of our field, including the distinctions between master’s and doctoral level health service providers and between health service psychologists and general applied psychologists. These are not turf questions. They are questions about how we ensure competent, appropriate care for the public we serve.

Emerging technology

The rapid growth of AI-powered tools carries risks that are not evenly distributed, from facial recognition misidentification to questions about the quality and cultural competence of AI therapy applications. I am engaged with APA’s new center on AI to ensure psychology has a meaningful voice in how these tools are developed, evaluated, and regulated, and I will continue that work as president.

Legal advocacy and the amicus curiae program

As chair of APA’s Amicus Curiae Expert Panel, I contributed to the brief submitted to the Colorado Supreme Court in Chiles v. Salazar, arguing that psychological science supported the state’s ban on conversion therapy, and supported that brief through its appeal to the United States Supreme Court. I also supported the brief submitted in U.S. v. Skrmetti concerning gender-affirming care. I will continue to expand this program so that psychological science informs the cases that most affect the public we serve.