Stephanie Miodus, Policy & Applied Work Focus Member-at-Large, Temple University

Advocacy is intertwined with SPSSI’s focus as it provides an avenue to address social issues and problems. For student members of SPSSI who are already engaged in research and practice targeting social issues, engaging in advocacy efforts can be a logical next step to expand their current work and have a societal impact. Yet, while many in the field acknowledge that advocacy is critical to psychologists’ work and training, there is limited focus on incorporating advocacy training into psychology graduate programs (Lating et al., 2009). Thus, as the GSC Policy & Applied Work Focus Member-at-Large, my aim for the current year is to provide targeted opportunities for graduate student members to learn and practice advocacy skills. Specifically, linking advocacy efforts to SPSSI members’ interest areas and providing an opportunity for students to collaborate on and disseminate advocacy products (e.g., policy resolutions). Given that research supports that providing advocacy-focused resources and opportunities is related to advocacy competence (Ramírez Stege et al., 2017), the hope is that SPSSI’s advocacy programming this year will spark graduate students’ interests and abilities to engage in sustainable advocacy efforts as graduate students and throughout their careers.
 

Jason Cruze, Membership Coordinator, California School of Professional Psychology

Our current severe political divide reveals a renewed national reckoning to combat systemic racism and the oppression of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), challenging each of us to critique our own moral standing in society’s social divide. To engage SPSSI members and community leaders, the GSC will facilitate a three-part Webinar Series titled: Societal Psychosis: A Meta-analysis of Systems that Obstruct and Destroy Our Social Bonds. The Series will cover themes including, 1) the criminal justice system, 2) racial justice and the structures of white supremacy, and 3) the question of social justice and immigrant rights. As the GSC Membership Coordinator, on May 3^rd at 3pm (PST) I’ll be moderating (along with fellow committee members here) the first in the series titled, “Public Reckoning with the Criminal Justice System: Mass Incarceration, Historical Injustice, and the Road to Healing.” Panelists for this webinar include Jody Armour, the Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law at USC, Maritza Perez, Policy Analyst and Director of the Office of National Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance, and Genea Richardson, Program Coordinator at Healing Dialogue and Action, where she advocates for women incarcerated and change in the carceral system. We invite you all to join us in these important conversations to help create and model an authentic space for critical and open dialogue.
 

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