APA President
Biography
Williams has served in senior academic leadership roles, including provost and senior vice president at Fielding Graduate University, and held positions at Mills College School of Education and Bank Street College of Education. Through her consultation practice, she develops organizational interventions that enable leaders and teams to reach high performance while fostering sustainable equity practice.
As APA president, Williams aims to advance her campaign theme, "Radically Well Together." She emphasizes the critical role psychologists play as scientists, practitioners, advocates and teachers—and above all, as leaders who can apply psychological science to promote wellness across communities. "The world needs us, and we need a healthier world," she has said. "It will be my honor to continue this journey as president of our association."
Williams has held numerous leadership roles within APA, including president of APA’s Division 35, the Society for the Psychology of Women, and the division’s representative on APA’s Council of Representatives. She previously served as president of Division 35’s Section on Black Women and contributed to APA Division 17’s Presidential Taskforce Against Racism in K–12 Schools. She has also been a member of Divisions 44 and 45, as well as of the Association of Black Psychologists and Society for Indian Psychology.
A coauthor of numerous journal articles and book chapters, Williams is author and editor of several books including Black Women at Work: On Refusal and Recovery, The Majestic Place: The Freedom Possible in Black Women's Leadership, and WE Matter!: Intersectional Anti-Racist Feminist Interventions with Black Girls and Women. She is also a coeditor of the APA Handbook on the Psychology of Women. Williams served as board cochair for Girls Leadership, a nonprofit that teaches girls and gender expansive youth to exercise the power of their voice through programs grounded in social-emotional learning.
Williams earned a BS in psychology from the University of California, Davis, an MA in general psychology from Pepperdine University, and a PhD in counseling psychology with an emphasis on multicultural psychology and family systems from Georgia State University.
Initiatives
100 Psychologists Rising
Leaders: Sherry Wang, PhD
Williams's presidential initiative 100 Psychologists Rising amplifies psychologists working in non-traditional contexts to inspire the field's evolution beyond conventional boundaries. Through TED Talk-style convention presentations, Monitor on Psychology features, and presidential citations, it highlights innovative applications of psychological science across diverse sectors. By highlighting pathways to impact outside traditional clinical and academic settings, this initiative expands students' and early-career psychologists' vision for their careers while amplifying the work of psychologists who may not always feel represented by APA. In all, 100 Psychologists Rising holds the potential to inclusively demonstrate psychology's relevance to addressing complex societal challenges.
Youth Mental Health Summit
Leaders: Celeste Malone, PhD, and Erlanger Turner, PhD
Building on APA’s existing partnerships and the portfolio of APA Head of Education, Nicole Barnes, PhD—focused on Child and Adolescent Learning and Well-Being and Psychology in PK-12 Schools—this initiative addresses youth mental health through regional, school and community-based summits culminating in a national convening tentatively scheduled for fall 2026 to align with the academic calendar. It will develop evidence-based toolkits, policy recommendations, and protocols to support student wellness and close gaps in abuse reporting systems. External collaborations include AERA for joint research and policy development, as well as a potential partnership with the Born This Way Foundation—an organization cofounded by Lady Gaga and Cynthia Bissett Germanotta that empowers and inspires young people to build a kinder, braver world that prioritizes mental health and well-being. These partnerships amplify youth voices in the public through research, while internal collaboration with the Interdivisional Taskforce ensures broad professional engagement.
Work and Wellness
Leaders: Jioni Lewis, PhD, and Robyn Gobin, PhD
Responding to economic crisis and disproportionate job losses among Black women and other marginalized workers, this initiative integrates findings from the 2023 Work in America Survey with psychological research on workplace safety and well-being. Through convention programming such as "The Pivot" session and partnering with organizations centering workplace wellness, such as NAMI, Mindshare Partners, and SHRM, American Psychiatric Association Center for Workplace Mental Health, etc., the Work and Wellness initiative takes an interdisciplinary approach to the conversation about workplace wellness, positioning APA as key a contributor and host for critical, forward thinking policy development that positions psychology by which to consider forward-looking policy development essential to transforming the work and wellness relationships during economic uncertainty. Direct connection to 100 Psychologists Rising showcases career resilience and adaptation, as well as with the Taskforce on Practice Psychology, which addresses the material conditions of practicing psychologists’ shifting labor contexts.
Monthly Monitor columns
Monitor on Psychology ®
- From commitment to action on justice, human rights, fairness, and dignity
- Youth Mental Health Summit aims to nurture youth well-being
- APA president urges psychologists to center "radical wellness" in all we do
- Reclaiming wellness, honoring women's labor
- 100 Psychologists rising: Spotlighting bold thinkers who are redefining the future of the field