Welcome & Opening Address

Towards a Black Feminist Psychology

Friday, December 3rd

11:00 AM - 11:45 AM EST

Jioni A. Lewis, Ph.D.

Dr. Jioni A. Lewis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Lewis is a leading expert on the impact of systemic racism and sexism on the mental and physical health of women of color. Her primary area of research applies intersectionality theory to investigate the influence of racism and sexism on Black women’s health and wellbeing. Dr. Lewis is one of the foremost published researchers on gendered racial microaggressions, which refers to subtle and everyday discrimination based on the intersection of race and gender. Within this line of research, Dr. Lewis developed the Gendered Racial Microaggressions Scale, which is a self-report measure to assess subtle gendered racism. She also examines protective factors that buffer individuals against the negative effects of gendered racism, such as collectivism, social support, resistance strategies, and radical healing. Dr. Lewis has received several national awards for her research and scholarship, including the 2019 Emerging Professional Contributions to Research Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race, the 2020 Best in Science Award from the Society of Counseling Psychology, and the 2020 Emerging Leader for Women in Psychology Award from the Committee on Women in Psychology. She is also the current President of the Psychology of Black Women, Section I of the Society for the Psychology of Women.