NYABPsi fulfills its mission and goals through the exciting work of our committees. Taking part in NYABPsi committee work is a great way to get involved in the organization, develop valuable skills, serve the community, and promote African-centered psychology through collective work and responsibility. We invite you to e-mail any of the Committee Chairs below if you are interested in learning more about the committee, joining the committee, or sharing ideas for committee work in the future.
Program Planning and Development Committee:
The Program Committee aims to be the pulse of the chapter and reinvigorate the ABPsi mission of “the liberation of the African Mind, empowerment of the African Character, and illumination of the African Spirit” through programming. This committee organizes programs with the purpose of psychological, educational, cultural, and economic development of Black Psychologists, students, and the New York Black community-at-large. Specifically, this committee welcomes members that would like to be involved in planning an annual Kwanzaa Celebration and Black History Month Celebration, as well as organize innovative community outreach programs. Our aims this year are to strategically begin beauty salon/barbershop based-programs, create research presentation forums for early career psychologists and students, “table” at community cultural events, and much more! The Program Planning and Development Committee provides members with the chance to go out into the world and establish the NYABPsi professional identity to apply our psychology/healing skills.
Committee on Legislative and Social Action:
In 1968, The Association of Black Psychologists was born out of a spirit of resistance and guided by the principle of self-determination to address the long neglected needs of Black Psychologists and the larger Black community. Legislative and social action is essential to this mission and the overarching goal of liberation for people of African descent. NYABPi’s Committee on Legislative and Social Action partners with legal and social organizations and grassroots movements to effectively collaborate in serving the interests and social justice needs of the Black community. This year, our committee will continue its commitment to offering sustained support to Haitian earthquake survivors who have migrated to the NYC area. We will continue to provide advocacy, psycho-education, and mental health support to individuals living with Sickle Cell Disease as they contend with health care disparities. Our committee will also focus on addressing the needs of the formerly incarcerated to promote successful re-integration into the community and healing from the trauma of institutionalization. There is a clear relationship between social injustices and the mental health of a people. Our committee recognizes the crucial role of Black Psychologists in confronting social injustices perpetuated against people of African descent, and in promoting holistic health and healing through a political agenda.
Membership Committee:
The lifeblood of any organization is its membership. The Membership Committee has a unique opportunity to revitalize NYABPsi and build awareness of its mission and activities to a new generation of members. Enhancing membership is critical to mentoring and supporting students to make it through the psychology pipeline. Given that only 2% of psychologists are of African descent, there is a critical demand for more clinicians and researchers who understand and are respectful of our communities’ needs to provide culturally competent care.
The vision for the Membership Committee in the upcoming year is to provide more opportunities for members and potential members to learn about the organization and to interact with each other. First, we plan to hold more orientation meetings to formally welcome new members into the organization. Further, we plan to organize more Meet and Greet sessions for potential members to learn about NYABPsi & our activities and to engage with our current board members. The Membership Committee also plans to create a Membership Directory to provide updated information about our members’ background and training. We also plan to keep members connected about our events and important issues related to our mission through our social media pages (Facebook and LinkedIn). We are also excited about the opportunity to amplify the NYABPsi brand through fundraising efforts such as creating t-shirts. Finally, we anticipate doing more community outreach such as tabling at different events (e.g. International African Arts Festival).
Student Affairs Committee:
This year, the Student Affairs Committee will develop workshops to increase students’ knowledge about the profession of psychology and advanced study in psychology. The workshops will include finding a mentor, applying to graduate school, and finding funding for advanced graduate study in psychology. We are aware that while many students want to continue to study psychology after completing the BA, it can be difficult to navigate this process. Our committee will focus on elucidating this process for students. Our committee will also facilitate support for African-descended students in surviving and thriving in psychology graduate programs.
Fundraising Committee:
The Fundraising Committee supports the organization’s mission, goals, and programs by identifying and securing multiple sources of funding. The fundraising committee’s vision for this year is to bolster programming efforts of the various committees, host events that will attract new members and retain existing members in collaboration with the membership committee, and to cultivate the Scholarship fund for student members of the organization. The fundraising committee is vital to the life and financial well-being of NYABPsi.
Committee on Professional Affairs, Development, and Training
This committee’s goal is to organize workshops in which people with expertise can share information that enhances career development for our members. The committee aims to organize at least one professional development workshop a year that focuses on advancing careers in any of these areas of psychology: academic, clinical/counseling (agency/hospital or private practice), community advocacy, correctional/forensic, grade school/education, and other areas of interest to our members. This committee is charged with providing members with relevant information to aid their career advancement.