Dear SPP members,

We, like others, are angry and appalled by recent events involving the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmad Arbery and others.   APA president Dr. Shullman has issued a statement on behalf of APA which you can read here.

The SPP Board of Directors supports this statement.  This year, the SPP Board has put considerable time and thought into ways our organization has, and has not, been an organization of inclusion and equity.  These recent events have caused us to think hard about how we respond in an impactful way.  While we strongly condemn these recent actions, we do not want to respond with just a statement.  We want to act.  We want all members to feel heard and safe in our organization.  We want to respond.

Our Diversity Committee will be leading efforts focusing on the impact of these events on SPP, its members, the work we do, the families we serve and the communities to which we belong.  We don’t know what may come from these efforts.  But we do know this - our organization is at our best when we have open and honest dialogue and find ways to apply our science to helping our communities. 

If you are interested and would like to participate in this work, please email Melissa Santos, PhD, Member at Large for Diversity