Advocate Spotlight

Cheryl Warner, PhD, is co-chair of the Arizona Psychological Association’s Legislative Committee and a member of the association’s Governing Council, as well as a board member of the Arizona Psychology Training Consortium.

Cecilia Poon, PhD, ABPP is a licensed, board-certified geropsychologist at Nebraska Medicine and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Carrero Pinedo is a bilingual licensed psychologist and a graduate of the APA-accredited Counseling Psychology doctoral program at the University of North Dakota. She has demonstrated sustained, visionary leadership at both national and state levels, serving on multiple boards and advisory committees.

Lisa M. Lind, PhD, ABPP, is a board-certified geropsychologist who serves as chief clinical officer for Deer Oaks Behavioral Health and has served on several committees focused on long-term care and aging.

J. Glen White, PhD, is a retired clinical psychologist whose career in central Arkansas spanned community mental health, academic medicine, and the Veterans Health Administration.

John E. Northman, PhD, ABPP reflects on decades of service as an APA federal advocacy coordinator, NYSPA president, legislative leader, and mentor.

Alan Hack, PhD, has had a long tenure on the executive and legislative committees of the New York State Psychological Association (NYSPA) and has taken an active role in developing and supporting NYSPA's advocacy agenda. Hack has consistently participated in the Lobby Day in Albany and learned firsthand how to advocate for our profession with legislators.

Nicole Steil, PsyD, LP, earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the Wisconsin School of Professional Psychology in 2017. She has been an adjunct at Carroll University since 2023, teaching a substance use disorder course to graduate counseling students. 

Melanie Wilcox, PhD, ABPP, is an associate professor in the counseling psychology PhD program at the University at Albany, where she also earned her PhD in 2015. Her research focuses on culturally and structurally responsive psychotherapy and training (including clinical supervision); racial and socioeconomic inequity in higher education; and whiteness, antiracism, and social justice more broadly. 

Fred Oswald, PhD, serves APA as an Advocacy Coordinating Committee member, and Future of Work advisory group member. Fred is a fellow and past president of APA Division 14 (Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology), as well as a fellow of Division 5 (Quantitative and Qualitative Methods) and Division 8 (Society for Personality and Social Psychology). He is professor and Herbert S. Autrey chair in social sciences at Rice University in the department of psychological sciences.

Mary Ann McCabe, PHD, ABPP, is a clinical psychologist in independent practice and an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine who is board certified in clinical child and adolescent psychology. She is an APA fellow (Divisions 37, 42, 53, 54) and member of Divisions 31 and 38 and a member of the Virginia Academy of Clinical Psychologists.  

Megan Mooney, PhD, (she/her/hers) is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Houston who specializes in working with children and families. Mooney is a member of the clinical faculty with Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston. She is also an affiliate member of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and has focused on serving traumatized children and families for 18 years. She has a specialty interest in working with LGBTQ+ youth who are disproportionately impacted by a variety of traumatic experiences.

Mary Fernandes, MA, is a PhD candidate at Georgia State University and a psychology intern at the Washington DC VA Medical Center. She is also the 2022 past chair of the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS), and she serves as the 2022 APAGS representative on the APA Board of Directors. Mary is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. She is passionate about social justice, advocacy, and mental health policy.

Eugene Borgida, PhD, is a professor of psychology and law at the University of Minnesota and a Morse-Alumni Distinguished Professor of Psychology. In addition, Borgida is an adjunct professor of political science, and has served as codirector of the Center for the Study of Political Psychology, which he cofounded. Borgida is an elected fellow of the AAAS, an APS fellow, and a fellow in several APA divisions. Borgida’s research interests include social psychology, psychology and law, and political psychology, and his research has been funded by NSF, NCI, NIH, NIMH, and The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Debra A. Major, PhD has served APA as a member of the Board of Scientific Affairs (2017-2020), as member (2011-12) and chair (2013-14) of the Committee on Division/APA Relations, and as Council Representative for Division 14 (2010-12). She is a fellow of APA Division 35 (Society for the Psychology of Women) and Division 14 (Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology). She is a professor and eminent scholar in the College of Sciences at Old Dominion University. Her research on career barriers and success currently focuses on the experiences of women and underrepresented ethnic minorities along the educational and career pathways in science, technology, education, and mathematics (STEM).

Stephanie L. Fitzpatrick, PhD, is a senior manager of Multicultural Program at WW (formerly Weight Watchers) and a senior investigator at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon. Fitzpatrick’s research focuses on implementing behavioral interventions for obesity and chronic disease management while also addressing health-related social needs in clinical and community-based settings. In her new role at WW, Fitzpatrick is examining strategies to support a scalable, inclusive, and equitable behavior change program that facilitates weight management and wellness for everyone. 

Chuck Hollister, PhD, is a licensed psychologist and consultant. He the current CEO and legislative chair of the Missouri Psychological Association. Hollister has a history of being a strong advocate for children and psychology and has been involved in the passage of over a dozen bills, including PSYPACT and reimbursement for interns under Medicaid. He is currently part of a stakeholder group advising Missouri Medicaid program on how to safely transition foster children into a managed care program.

William Stoops, PhD, a professor in the department of behavioral science at the University of Kentucky who leads a clinical research portfolio focused on stimulant use disorders, has served APA in several capacities, including past president and council representative roles in Division 28; Board of Convention Affairs member (2015-18) and chair (2017); and is serving as a member of the Advocacy Coordinating Committee, and consulting editor for Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. 

Sharon Berry, PhD, ABPP, is an inaugural member of the Advocacy Coordinating Committee (ACC). She is committed to continuing these advocacy responsibilities as we fine tune support for APA’s dedication to advocacy on behalf of psychologists and our profession.