This is a webinar
Webinar Description
This webinar will focus on the American Psychological Association’s (APA) initiative, Equity Flattens the Curve (EFtC). EFtC aims to mitigate COVID-19’s disproportionate impacts on marginalized populations around the world, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, people with disabilities, people with low incomes, older people, and other groups who are vulnerable due to bias. The project focuses on strategies such as reducing bias and stigma, promoting social cohesion and inclusion, and supporting policies and practices that reduce inequity. APA’s Gabriel Twose will explain why inequity is a human rights issue, APA’s Keyona King-Tsikata will provide an overview of the project, and EFtC Network Member Maysa Akbar will explain how it has informed her work as a practitioner and advocate battling the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and racism.
Speakers
Maysa Akbar, PhD, is a groundbreaking psychologist, best-selling author, and healer. She is a thought leader and expert in racial trauma, allyship, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Dr. Akbar is a board-certified clinical psychologist, an Assistant Clinical Professor at Yale University, School of Medicine, and the CEO and founder of Integrated Wellness Group, a psychotherapy practice specializing in treating race-based trauma since 2008. Dr. Akbar created the Urban Trauma™ framework, unpacking how many people of color live in a state of crisis due to oppressive societal systems, resulting in feelings of anger, rage, and hopelessness, as well as the Ally Identity Model, which details the stages of allyship in dismantling systemic oppression.
Keyona King-Tsikata, MPH, is the project manager for the #Equity Flattens the Curve initiative which aims to center equity in the response and recovery efforts of COVID-19 to reduce disparities and meet the needs and circumstances of priority populations that have historically been marginalized. Mrs. King-Tsikata is also the director of the Office on Socioeconomic Status (OSES) of the American Psychological Association. OSES is responsible for directing, overseeing, facilitating, and promoting psychology's contribution to the understanding of SES and the lives and well-being of the poor.
Gabriel Twose, PhD, is the Senior International Affairs Officer at the American Psychological Association (APA) where he works to advance psychology globally, with a particular focus on humanitarian and human rights efforts. He represents APA on the AAAS Science and Human Rights coalition. Relevant publications include Human rights and reconciliation: Theoretical and empirical connections in the Cambridge Handbook of Psychology and Human Rights as well as the edited International Handbook of Peace and Reconciliation and a special issue of Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology on the topic of human rights.
Mindy C. Reiser, PhD, is a sociologist with extensive research and evaluation experience in the United States and internationally. She has worked for the United Nations, taught at the university level, and served as program manager for economic development programs in Central Asia and the Caucasus. She is a member of the Steering Committee of the AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition. Dr. Reiser is a co-founder and Vice President of Global Peace Services USA -- an NGO focusing on peacebuilding and conflict resolution, and also serves on the Board of Governors of the Washington, DC Chapter of the Labor and Employment Relations Association.
This webinar series is a project of the AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition. The team organizer is Oliver Moles, Ph.D.
To view past webinars in this series, please visit Scientific Collaborations with Human Rights Organizations.