Tania Israel is a Professor of Counseling Psychology and an Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Israel’s expertise is grounded in 25 years of research on LGBTQ psychology, an award-winning book about dialogue across political disagreement (Beyond Your Bubble: How to Connect Across the Political Divide, Skills and Strategies for Conversations That Work. APA, 2020), and decades of social justice leadership in professional and community settings. Dr. Israel’s presentations on a wide range of topics have been received enthusiastically by professional conferences, corporations, campuses, community organizations, and congregations. She has shared her expertise with the TODAY show, the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR, and dozens of other media outlets. Her strengths as a scholar and storyteller are evident in her TEDx talks: How to Win a Political Argument, What Halibut Fajitas Taught Me About Bridging the Political Divide, and Bisexuality and Beyond. Dr. Israel has facilitated educational programs and difficult dialogues about a range of topics, including abortion, law enforcement, religion, and sexual orientation. A biracial, Asian American, bisexual, Jewish, Buddhist feminist, Dr. Israel’s perspective on DEI matters is unique, practical, and optimistic. She has received honors from Congress, the California State Legislature, and the American Psychological Association. To learn more, visit taniaisrael.com or connect with her on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok (@drtaniaisrael).

Shola Shodiya-Zeumault is an Assistant Professor in the UCSB Counseling, Clinical & School Psychology doctoral program, and a Faculty Advisor for the Healing Space- a liberation-focused training clinic designed to support Black-identified student clinicians in their provision of culturally-affirming therapy to Black community members in California. Shola earned her PhD in Counseling Psychology from Georgia State University, and completed her doctoral internship at the Counseling and Psychological Services Center at UC Santa Cruz.

Dr. Shodiya-Zeumault has supported the mental health and wellbeing of individuals and communities in university and college counseling centers, hospitals, and in community-based wellness centers. Due to her expertise in assessing and treating racial trauma and promoting organizational equity, she has also served as a psychological consultant for forensic attorneys, universities, academic and professional associations, and non-profit organizations.

Dr. Shodiya-Zeumault’s approach to facilitating healing and wellness among individuals and organizations is highly relational, and focuses on strengthening relationship between self, others, and community. Her clinical work is heavily influenced by Narrative and Interpersonal practices, and rooted in storytelling, critical reflection, and critical action (e.g., activism). Personally, she finds healing in nature and in communion with friends, family, and ancestors. Her personal interests include getting lost in used bookstores, finding new hiking trails, and having dance parties with her partner and son.

Emil Beckford (he/him) is a second-year PhD student in the Counseling Psychology program at the University at Buffalo (UB). He is advised by Dr. Amy Reynolds and works with Dr. Tangela Roberts in addition. Emil received a BS in Psychology from Yale University in May 2020. Prior to starting graduate school, he was a research assistant for the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, one of the nation’s largest longitudinal studies of adolescent brain development. Interviewing teenagers about their mental health and making connections with them solidified Emil’s desire to pursue counseling.

Emil's research interests include understanding how marginalized identity status (e.g., being a person of color, being a sexually minoritized person) impacts mental health and how protective factors (e.g., community belongingness) can mitigate adverse mental health outcomes. His qualifying paper explored outness and community belongingness within a sample of racially-diverse LGBTQIA+ individuals. His future research aims to use group therapy to promote LGBTQIA+ community belongingness. After graduation, Emil plans to become a licensed counseling psychologist and conduct therapy and assessments with minoritized individuals.

Outside of his studies, Emil is a Presidential Fellow at UB. He recently served on the search committee for UB’s Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence. He is also the secretary for the Department of Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology Graduate Student Association; the treasurer of the UB Queer Graduate Club; and a student assistant in the UB Office of Inclusive Excellence. In his free time, Emil enjoys singing and writing songs, playing kickball, and spending time with friends.

Dr. David P. Rivera is an associate professor and coordinator of the graduate programs in mental health and school counseling at Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY), where he is also the Founding Director of the CUNY LGBTQI Student Leadership Program. He holds degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Wyoming. His professional experience includes college counseling, higher education administration, and consultations on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Dr. Rivera has worked at a variety of institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, Prince George’s Community College, and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. A counseling psychologist, his research is guided by critical theories and social justice frameworks and explores cultural competency development and issues impacting the marginalization and wellbeing of people of color and oppressed sexual orientation and gender identity groups, with a focus on microaggressions. He has published books, journal articles, and book chapters in various areas of multicultural psychology, education, and social justice, and his latest co-edited books, the award-winning Affirming LGBTQ+ Students in Higher Education and Critical Theories for School Psychology and Counseling: A Foundation for Equity and Inclusion in School-Based Practice were released in 2022. Dr. Rivera holds leadership positions with the American Psychological Association, The Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, The Steve Fund, and The Council for Opportunity in Education. Dr. Rivera is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and has received national honors from the American College Counseling Association and the American College Personnel Association.

My Name is Ben Ototivo, a licensed psychologist. I am originally from Oklahoma and grew up there on the traditional lands on my people and am a member of the Comanche Nation. I earned my PhD at the University of Oklahoma. I went on to complete my doctoral internship at the University of Northern Colorado and post-doctoral fellowship at The University of Pennsylvania where I focused on Outreach and community development aspects of our field. I am currently a Multicultural specialist and Staff Psychologist at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Throughout my career as a clinician and advocate I have worked toward supporting and developing DEI and Social Justice efforts in higher education spaces. Currently I balance carrying a caseload with teaching DEI concepts and competencies to our staff, while also retooling policies and procedures to provide more equitable care to our students. Some days look like seeing Clients almost every hour of the day and others look like administrative meetings leading into facilitating a training for 50+ clinicians. I have a background working with a wide range of client identities and presenting concerns both in University and Community settings, including first generation/ low-income students, Folks of Color, and activists.

Rosie Phillips Davis is a professor of counseling psychology at the University of Memphis, where she has worked for more than 30 years. Previous roles include serving as the vice president for student affairs and director of the Center for Student Development. The fifth of 12 children, Dr. Davis was born to sharecroppers in Mississippi who, in search of a better life, moved to Memphis when she was a young child and where her father subsequently worked as a garbage man and participated in the “I AM A Man” marches with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She was the first person in her family to attend college and earned a bachelor’s degree from Elmhurst College and a master’s degree in counseling and guidance and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from The Ohio State University. Davis’ scholarship focuses on the power of inclusion, multicultural vocational psychology, ethics, and poverty. She has served on the editorial boards of several journals, including currently on the Journal of Career Assessment. She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters and has co-edited two books. She is a co-founder of APA’s National Multicultural Conference and Summit. Davis’ professional awards include the APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Institutional Practice, Janet E. Helms Award for Mentoring and Scholarship, the Tennessee Psychological Association Len Handler Award for Distinguished Research Psychologist, Division 44 Certificate of Appreciation, Charles and Shirley Thomas Award Division 45, two APA Presidential Citations and the Leona Tyler Award for Lifetime Achievement in Counseling Psychology. In 2019, Dr. Davis served as president of the American Psychological Association, where her presidential initiative focused on deep poverty.

Melba J.T. Vasquez, PhD, ABPP is a licensed psychologist and is currently in part time independent practice in Austin, Tx. She is the first Woman of Color to serve as president of the American Psychological Association (APA). She has also been President of the Texas Psychological Association (TPA) and of APA Divisions 35 (Society of Psychology of Women) and 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology). She is a co-founder of APA Division 45, Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race, and of the National Multicultural Conference and Summit. She has been active in promoting leadership activities among women, BIPOC, and Early Career Psychologists.

She has an extensive record of scholarship and has published over 100 book chapters and journal articles in the areas of professional ethics, multicultural psychology, psychology of women, and counseling and psychotherapy. She is a coauthor of several books, including:

Multicultural Therapy: A Practice Imperative. Volume for Theories of Psychotherapy Series (2022, with Jo Johnson);

Ethics in Psychotherapy & Counseling: A Practical Guide (6^th edition, 2021, with Ken Pope, Nayeli Chavez-Duenas and Hector Adames);

Succeeding as a Therapist; How to Create a Thriving Practice in a Changing World (2022, with Hector Adames, Nayeli Chavez-Duenas, & Ken Pope);

APA Ethics Code Commentary and Case Illustrations (2010, with Linda Campbell, Steve Behnke & Robert Kinscherff).

A Fellow of eleven Divisions of the APA, she holds the Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP), has received numerous awards including the 2020 APA Award for Lifetime Achievement and the 2023 Lifetime Award for Accomplishments in Ethics Education. She is President of the American Psychological Foundation. She has served as Parliamentarian for four previous APA Presidents (Sandy Shullman, Jennifer Kelly, Frank Worrell and Thema Bryant) and is serving in that role for APA President Cynthia de las Fuentes.

Helen A. Neville received her doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She was on the faculty in Psychology, Educational and Counseling Psychology, and Black Studies at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she co-founded and co-directed the Center for Multicultural Research, Training, and Consultation. Currently, Dr. Neville is a professor of Educational Psychology and African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is president of the Society of Counseling Psychology (APA Division 17), past president of the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race (APA Division 45) and a fellow of the American Psychological Association. She is active in the Association of Black Psychologists, having served on their Board of Directors and receiving their Distinguished Psychologist award. She has (co)authored/edited 8 books and over 100 articles on topics related to race, racism, racial identity, and healing. Dr. Neville has been recognized for her research and mentoring efforts including receiving the APA Graduate Students Kenneth and Mamie Clark Award, the APA Division 45 Charles and Shirley Thomas Award for mentoring/contributions to African American students/community, and the Winter Roundtable Janet E. Helms Mentoring Award. She was honored with the Association of Black Psychologists’ Distinguished Psychologist of the Year award and the APA Minority Fellowship Award, Dalmas Taylor Award for Outstanding Research Contribution, the Derald Wing Sue Award for Distinguished Contributions to Multicultural Counseling, and most recently the APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest (Senior Career).

Vision: Littleglobe envisions a world where we connect, heal and thrive through the art of storytelling.

Mission: Littleglobe’s multi-generational team works with people to tell their own stories. Through partnerships we provide tools, programs, training and platforms to co-create and share artistic works with the wider world. Our collaborative process models a community in which everyone is seen and heard.

Littleglobe, a Santa Fe-based story, film and civic engagement non-profit, has 15 years of experience working on bottom-up resident-driven storytelling projects across New Mexico. The organization’s multi-generational and multi-heritage teams work in collaboration with local public and private partners to customize projects to suit the storytelling needs of a wide range of constituencies.

Over the years, this has included the creation of two subject driven national PBS feature documentaries about public education in New Mexico, numerous projects about housing, displacement, affordability and gentrification, collaborations with recently released incarcerated populations, public policy initiatives to decriminalize problematic drug use, bottom-up planning and visioning processes with underserved residents, work in public rest homes, a resident film training and storytelling program called “Community Storytellers”, and Littleglobe TV, a hyper-local TV show created by Santa Fe residents during the pandemic. www.littleglobe.org

https://orwh.od.nih.gov/

Established in 1990, the Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH-NIH) serves as the focal point for women's health research at the National Institutes of Health. For over thirty years, ORWH-NIH has worked across the NIH and beyond to advance our understanding of sex and gender as influences in health and disease, support women in biomedical careers, and stimulate research to improve the health of women https://orwh.od.nih.gov/our-work/biennial-reports). The ORWH mission areas span the full spectrum of science—from lab bench to patient bedside and beyond. As the focal point for research on the health of women at NIH, ORWH leads, develops, and supports a diverse range of programs, initiatives, and policies to improve the health of all women at all stages of the life course and to support women in biomedical fields at all stages of their careers. Within NIH and the broader scientific community, ORWH-NIH aims to advance the inclusion of women in clinical trials, increase understanding of the importance of sex as a biological variable, and stimulate research pertaining to the health of women and the influences of sex and gender on health and disease.

The mission of the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance (HRA) is to educate, engage, encourage, and celebrate LGBTQ+ inclusion, pride, and acceptance for all people. HRA seeks to build coalitions with groups who will work for the civil rights of all New Mexicans and to develop outreach programming to support the community.

Our goals are to create a meaningful dialogue with the LGBTQ Community in the greater Santa Fe area and to build a diverse community through communication, support and outreach. We strive to respond to the needs of the community through outreach and support. We also advocate and provide a voice for human and civil rights legislation.

In addition to these goals, we organize the annual PRIDE Santa Fe Festival, held every year at the end of June. We also produce the following monthly events PRIDE After 5 - a mixer for the LGBTQ+ community and Allies Drag Bingo - a fundraiser for HRA Equal Grounds Coffee - a business focused event to promote and create a more welcoming and equitable community. Community Conversations - a daytime safe space mixer to educate, elevate and support the younger LGBTQ+ community.

Earth Care is an empowerment and community development organization. We grow grassroots leadership from the ground up by training and supporting youth and parent leaders who organize campaigns to build a healthy, just, and sustainable world.

Earth Care was founded in 2001, 20 years ago by two young adults - who travelled around the country participating in environmental movement gatherings and noticed that young people were not at the table. Christina and Taylor Selby decided to start an organization dedicated to opening up spaces for young people and young adults to not only participate - but lead. Earth Care has had many different programs over the years including summer camps, a youth-run coffee house, the Sustainable Santa Fe Annual Resource Guide, and sustainability education teacher training institutes for public school professionals. The common thread has been the empowerment of young people and the connection between ecological health and social justice.

https://www.earthcarenm.org/about

Michi Fu, Ph.D. is Professor and Associate Program Director of Alliant International University. They are an international psychologist as a Visiting Professor of National Taiwan University's College of Public Health. As an educator, they tend to foster learning through immersive experiences, such as field trips - even designing multiple continuing education courses abroad to Asia. Areas of specialty include cross-cultural psychology, Asian American mental health, gender and sexuality issues and complex trauma.

Dr. Fu is a community clinical psychologist, benefitting immigrants and refugees at Garfield Health Center. They maintain private practice locations in the states of California and Hawaii, especially for those who benefit from Mandarin or Taiwanese skills. As a social justice performing artist, they use artivism to explore themes of injustices and promote wellness by utilizing mixed media. As a past coordinator of the 2015 National Multicultural Conference & Summit, they are honored to be invited to moderate the 2024 Community Speaker Panel.