President Elect

Phia Salter:

"I am a critical race psychologist who applies critical, social, and cultural analyses to the psychological study of racism and other forms of oppression. An overarching aim of my work is to intervene in how psychology as a field understands and frames the racism experiences of Black communities while also examining psychological phenomena from the perspectives of marginalized and oppressed peoples. These approaches not only inform my research efforts, but also my teaching and service. Notably, my biographical sketch is filled with many of the “bad” words that the current presidential administration has banned or restricted. In other words, I’m a SPSSI person. SPSSI has always made me feel at home in my academic identity. For as long as I’ve been involved with SPSSI, it has been the professional organization and meeting place where I feel energized, replenished, and motivated to engage in teaching, research, and action that addresses social issues. Over the past 15 years, I’ve served on the SPSSI membership committee, chaired the Dissertation awards committee, chaired the Internationalization committee, co-chaired the Diversity committee, and served on SPSSI council. One achievement I am particularly proud of includes the establishment of the Researchers in the Global South grant program which supports international members of SPSSI conducting research on social issues outside of the United States. I lead the establishment of this grant program in 2019 and am proud to see that scholars continue to benefit from the funding mechanism today. These experiences reflect my desire to support spaces where critical and socially relevant research can be amplified, particularly by early career and underrepresented group members. I have also taken on several editorial roles with the same desire to promote work on critical social issues. I recently co-edited a special double issue in the Journal of Social Issues on Critical Race Theory in Psychology and I am currently an Associate Editor at Personality and Social Psychology Review."