SPSSI 2026 Conference Co-chair

Harmony A. Reppond, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, Dearborn, whose work bridges social psychology, community-based research, and policy engagement to examine the causes and consequences of economic inequality. Grounded in critical and feminist psychological epistemologies and inspired by Kurt Lewin’s full-cycle model, her research investigates how poverty, precarity, and unequal access to resources shape beliefs, interpersonal experiences, and expectations of institutional responsibility. She is committed to using psychological science to illuminate and challenge the structural conditions that generate social and economic inequity.

Dr. Reppond uses mixed-methods approaches to study how individuals navigate economic precarity and how institutional practices can either support or constrain well-being. Her applied scholarship includes co-authoring a national policy brief through APA’s Committee on the Advancement of Policy and Applied Research on guaranteed income as a psychologically and socially transformative intervention. Her research has been published in outlets such as the Journal of Social Issues, Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, Feminism & Psychology, Action Research, and the Journal of Poverty.

She has a long record of service and leadership within SPSSI. She attended her first SPSSI conference in 2008 and has remained deeply involved in the organization for more than 15 years. Her early engagement included receiving a 2014 SPSSI Grants-in-Aid Award supporting her doctoral dissertation. She went on to serve on the Early Career Scholars Committee (2016–2019) and as co-chair of SPSSI at APA (2018). Since 2018, she has also served on the Editorial Advisory Board of Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy. She has reviewed conference submissions, participated in policy workshops, mentored emerging scholars, and contributed to SPSSI’s public-facing work. She currently serves on the Kurt Lewin Award Committee (2025–2029) and is co-chairing SPSSI’s 90th anniversary conference (2025-2026). Dr. Reppond also serves as a Faculty Expert for the University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions Strategic Initiative and the UM Diversity Scholars Network.  She was a University of Michigan Road Scholar in 2024.