Division 45 - Ethnic Minority Division

Multiculturalism is central to my core as a psychologist and I am deeply honored to contribute to this issue of Focus. We have been working on diversity issues and inclusion for decades now and we still have a very long way to go. Below is a condensed version of my statement that will go out on October 13, 2006 with the President-Elect ballot. You will notice that the statement is issuing a strong call for collaboration between science and practice. The reason for that is that during my time in governance I have becoming increasingly aware of an energy-draining split between science and practice with each group seeming to fear not getting all that they need. However, in Division 45 we have been able to work together because we know that in order to get our work done, we must be unified. We need to develop that kind of unity throughout APA. I hope that you will help me bring what we have learned to all of APA. Thank you for your support and please visit my website for more information.

APA is a 150,000 member organization of some of the most able minds in the world. We have the power to lead the world toward peace and humanity through the science, education, and practice of psychology. I want us to realize the power-that comes by drawing a circle big enough to include all practitioners, scientists, people of color, international psychologists, people with disabilities, women and men, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, ages, religious backgrounds, all psychologists.

We must bring together the best minds to implement the Science Directorate agenda, PSY 21, a plan to set scientific priorities in APA.

We must solve problems of managed care, prescription privileges and licensure portability

We must include in our powerful circle the best minds - so that we can solve ethnic minority pipeline issues. Who will be the next generation of psychologists? We are aging and we must recruit more psychologists who care about issues that matter.

We need to be concerned with various societal issues, such as pre-K/12 . If those who build prisons can determine the future need for prisons by the number of African American males in 3 rd and 4 th grade, then we must deliver strong prevention interventions that say we will not let that happen. We must use the best available psychological knowledge to interrupt practices that are harmful to individuals and destructive to society.

We must include all psychologists who can help us implement the diversity guidelines . We must apply what we have learned as evidenced by the Multicultural Guidelines, the LGBT Guidelines, as well the other initiatives. We must implement the recommendations from the Presidential Task Force on Enhancing Diversity within APA. We must move forward with the Guidelines on Women and Girls.

As President of Division 17 in 1999, I collaborated with the Presidents of 35 and 45 to found the first Multicultural Conference and Summit . It is through collaborations like these that we demonstrated how effective we can be around multicultural matters. Likewise, I will use my discretionary monies to help us build models of collaboration between science, practice, education and public interest that can be used to take on major problems within APA and society.