Diversity Committee

2020-2021 Committee Report

Mission: Develop, support, and promote awareness and sensitivity of the diverse communities to which Maryland psychologists belong and serve.

Chair: Whitney Hobson, Psy.D.

Members: Alan Nathan, Psy.D., Niveen Soliman, Ph.D., Mindy Milstein, Ph.D., Shivangi Moghe, Psy.D., Joni Williamson-Turner, Psy.D., Sahar Esfahani, Ph.D., and Venus Masselam, Ph.D.

2020 Accomplishments:

• Completed the first phase of a demographic project aimed at collecting information on the demographic identities of all MPA members to use data to guide future programming and outreach geared towards inclusion, representation, and provision of support to members and the populations they serve. • Continued to work with the Board of Directors and other committees to issue statements to members regarding social/political events that needed attention due to diversity factors.

• Co-sponsored a movie event with the Early Career Psychologist Committee to provide a forum for discussion around socially relevant themes. • Co-led a discussion with members of the Ethics Committee at the Essential Requirements Convention to emphasize the importance of diversity in ethical decision making.

• Continued the tradition coordinating with MPA's Ethics Committee during the Essential Requirements Conference with a focus on providing workshops geared towards increasing training and awareness in the areas of ethics, supervision, and diversity.

Future Goals:

• Continue to work to make MPA a more welcoming space to psychologists of color, which will then be measured by an increase in membership numbers of psychologists of color. This has been a long-term goal for the Committee, as it is recognized that this type of change cannot be made in one year.

• Continue planning for the second phase of the demographic project for implementation of a wider roll out to all MPA members.

• Continue to provide educational opportunities and programming to allow MPA members to work on their cultural competency.

• Continue to develop partnerships with other committees to engage in outreach geared towards training, education, networking, and support