PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXT:
ADVOCACY AT THE UNITED NATIONS
Thursday, May 8, 2014
CUNY Graduate Center
1:30-5 p.m.
PROGRAM
This SPSSI sponsored event consists of presentations and discussions that are designed to increase
awareness of the intersection of psychology, policy and advocacy at the United Nations.
1:15-1:30PM
REGISTRATION
1:30PM
WELCOME
1:40PM
THE ROLE OF CHILDREN’S ASSOCIATIONS IN RESEARCH, POLICY,
ADVOCACY AND GOVERNANCE AT THE UNITED NATIONS
Joseph DeMeyer, Ph.D., SPSSI UN NGO Main Representative
Bijan Kimiagar, Graduate Student Award Recipient
2:00PM
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AT UNICEF
2:30PM
THE ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGY AT THE UNITED NATIONS
3:30PM
BREAK
3:40PM
PSYCHOLOGY AND ADVOCACY AT THE UNITED NATIONS
4:10PM
BUILDING EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPS AT THE UNITED NATIONS
4:40PM
ENGAGING YOUNG PROFESSIONALS AT THE UNITED NATIONS
4:55PM
CLOSING REMARKS
5 TO 7PM
HAPPY HOUR AT GALWAY PUB, 7 E. 36TH ST
Mabelle M. Chua, Human Resources Officer at UNICEF
Harold Takooshian, Ph.D., IMCES UN NGO Representative
Joseph DeMeyer, Ph.D., SPSSI UN NGO Main Representative
Florence Denmark, Ph.D., ICP and IAAP UN NGO Main Representative
Miriam Y. Vega, Ph.D., SPSSI UN NGO Representative
Corann Okorodudu, Ph.D., SPSSI UN NGO Representative
Eric L. Sawyer, Civil Society Partnership Advisor at UNAIDS
Patrick Sciarratta, Special Advisor to the Permanent Mission of Sao Tome and
Principe to the United Nations
Manisha Gupta, Conference Chair and SPSSI UN NGO Intern
Harold Cook, Ph.D., Conference Advisor and SPSSI UN NGO Representative
- SPECIAL THANKS -
Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI)
SPSSI NGO UN Team
NGO Representatives, UNICEF and UNAIDS
Justine Calcagno, Conference Committee Volunteer
PROGRAM MODERATORS
Manisha Gupta, Conference Chair (manisha@psych.umass.edu)
Manisha Gupta obtained a B.S. in Business Administration and a B.A. in Social Welfare
from the University of California at Berkeley in 2005. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in
Social Psychology with a concentration in Peace and Violence at the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst. As a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow, the
majority of her research has focused on identifying factors that contribute to prejudice
between ethnic minority groups and methods of improving cross-ethnic coalition
building. She is also interested in intergroup dialogue, cross-cultural exchange, and the
maintenance of indigenous culture, history, and identity, and has worked as a consultant
with several domestic and international non-profits focused on these issues. Manisha strongly believes that
empirical research can play a major role in developing sound public policies. This led to her active involvement
in the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) as a graduate student where she currently
serves as the Graduate Student Committee Chair, is a member of the Diversity Committee, and is a graduate
student intern with the UN/NGO Committee. Manisha hopes this event will foster more opportunities for those
interested in the intersection of research, policy and advocacy work to connect with one another, share
resources, and form potential collaborations in the future.
Harold Cook, Ph.D., Conference Advisor
Harold Cook is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Columbia University, where he
taught in the Clinical Psychology doctoral program. He has published on cross-cultural
issues related to learning, development, socialization processes, attitudes toward war,
and empirical research on psychoanalytic theory. Dr. Cook was an NIMH fellow, trained in
psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, and psychoanalytic supervision, is a NY State licensed
Psychologist. He was the founding President of the Psychoanalytic Research Society. He
also was a Carnegie Corporation Visiting Scholar in Nigeria and an APA Fellow. He was an
APA UN NGO representative, the main representative for The International Union of
Psychological Science, currently a rep. for SPSSI. He has been a member of the Executive Committee of the NGO
Committee on Mental Health, Co-Chair of the Committee on the Family and on UNICEF’s North American
Consultation Planning Committee on the Convention for the Rights of the Child, UNICEF’s Working Groups on
Children and Armed Conflict, Child Rights, and founded/chaired the Working Group of Violence Against
Children. He testified at a US Senate Foreign Relations Sub-Committee on a resolution to ratify the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child. Dr. Cook played an instrumental role in founding the UN Psychology
Coalition and in organizing the first Psychology Day. Recently, he co-authored papers presented at international
conferences on ‘Restorative Justice’ and ‘International Law and Human Rights,’ is a member of an Italian
Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board on ‘Culture and Gender,’ a member of the NGO Committee on Education,
and the Committee on Ageing.
PROGRAM SPEAKERS
Joseph DeMeyer, Ph.D. graduated from the William Alanson White psychoanalytic institute in
NYC in 1987 and has been in private practice as a clinical psychologist ever since. In the
tradition of its cross-cultural approach and commiserate to its and the World Health
Organization co-founder H.S. Sullivan’s tenet: “We are all more human than otherwise,” he
joined the UN NGO Committee on Mental Health to find a like-minded approach outside his
office. As UN representative for SPSSI, he became executive committee member of the Mental
Health Committee; organizing multiple events and contributing to its UN statements;
participated in organizing the annual UN DPI/NGO International Conferences, placing
psychology on its plenary agenda; and co-founding the Psychology Coalition at the UN. For the past ten years Dr.
DeMeyer has been SPSSI’s main UN representative and has recently began to reconstitute the UN NGO Committee on
Education, as its co-chair; presently co-writing the education statement for the DPI/NGO Conference opening
declaration. Dr. DeMeyer has written extensively about the UN in SPSSI newsletters; contributed to SPSSI’s UN history
account; and presented about “United Nations: Idealism versus Reality,” at the APA convention. All this would not be
possible without the supportive collaboration from his fellow SPSSI UN Committee members.
Bijan Kimiagar is a researcher with the Children’s Environments Research Group (CERG) and
Ph.D. Candidate in Environmental Psychology at the City University of New York, Graduate
Center. Using a critical and participatory approach, Bijan’s research concerns strengthening
young people’s engagement in resolving global social and environmental injustices. As a
research associate with CERG, he has collaborated with children’s organization in Latin
America, South Asia, West Africa, and the Middle East. This research explores the internal
decision-making structures of children’s membership organizations around the world, and how
each structure improves or diminishes trust, collaboration, and communication among group
members.
Mabelle M. Chua was first exposed to the different operations in the field of human resources
management when she came to the United States in 1996 and was accepted into the United
Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) agency. Following a 10-year tenure with UNOPS and
completion of her graduate studies in Strategic Human Resources Management, Ms. Chua moved
to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), where she provided consulting services in
the areas of HR, Procurement, and Operations. She now works at the United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF), where she is currently performing the functions of Human Resources Officer,
providing support in the management of UNICEF’s flagship program for high potential talents, the
New and Emerging Talent Initiative (NETI). Prior to joining the NETI team, Ms. Chua also worked as HR Officer in
UNICEF’s Recruitment & Staffing Section, where she was assigned to manage the recruitment and placement of
international staff in the Eastern, Southern and North African regions, Middle East, as well as those within the
technical field of Child Survival and Development. In addition, she has had the opportunity to work at UNICEF’s Supply
Division in Copenhagen, Denmark where she also performed a full range of HR activities, including coordinating a
large-scale recruitment effort in the areas of supply, logistics, and procurement.
Harold Takooshian, Ph.D is Professor of Psychology & Urban Studies at Fordham University.
His research focuses on applied social and personality psychology, industrial psychology, and
urban psychology, among other areas. He is a co-founder and past Chair of the SPSSI-New York
regional group, and has represented psychology groups at the United Nations since 2003,
including the American Psychological Association (APA, 2003-2008) and the Institute for
Multicultural Counseling & Education Services (IMCES, 2013-now).
Miriam Y. Vega, Ph.D. is the Vice-President and the principal investigator on numerous
research projects at the Latino Commission on AIDS. Dr. Vega has a PhD in Social Psychology
from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. from Vassar College in Psychology.
Immediately after her PhD, she completed a two-year Prevention Fellowship at SUNY
Downstate Medical Center, sponsored by the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine
and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Vega’s research has focused on the
issues of social identity, stigma, culture, social marketing, and health. She recently published Sexo y la Ciudad- a study
of Latino Gay men and fractured identity. She created the CHANGE (customized, holistic, analytical, network-building,
grassroots and evaluatory) model of capacity building (Vega, 2009). Since 2012, she has served as an NGO
representative for the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues to the United Nations, and since 2013, as the
Secretary for the PsychCoalition NGO Committee to the United Nations.
Florence L. Denmark, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized scholar and policy maker. She
received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and has 6 honorary
degrees and numerous awards, including one for Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to
Psychology. Dr. Denmark is a Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at Pace
University. A past president of the APA, Eastern Psychological Association (EPA), Psi Chi and
International Council of Psychologists (ICP), Dr. Denmark holds fellowship status in the APA,
EPA, APS, and the Society for Experimental Social Psychology (SESP). Dr. Denmark is currently
the main NGO representative to the UN for the ICP as well as IAAP. She is co-chair of the NGO
Family Committee and serves on the UN Executive Committee of Ageing. Dr. Denmark’s most
significant research and extensive publications have emphasized women’s leadership and
leadership styles, the interaction of status and gender, ageing women in cross-cultural perspective, and the history of
women in psychology.
Corann Okorodudu, Ph.D. is a Professor Emirita of Psychology and Africana Studies at
Rowan University, where she has also served as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
and coordinated programs on Africana Studies, Women Studies, and multicultural curriculum
transformation. At the UN, she has served as Main UN/NGO Representative for the Society for
the Psychological Study of Social Issues and the American Psychological Association. Her work
at the UN focuses on the application of psychological perspectives to social development,
racism, migration and women and children’s human rights issues. In her NGO committee
work, as well as in her teaching and presentations at annual professional conferences and UN
side events, she combines human rights principles and standards with a lifespan psychological
perspective in addressing violence against vulnerable populations, particularly women,
children, and racial/ethnic minorities. She served as Head of the APA Delegation to the UN World Conference Against
Racism in Durban, South Africa in 2001 and represented SPSSI and APA at the 2002 UN Summit on Children at the UN
in New York. The challenges of eliminating the sources and effects of various historic and contemporary forms of
human violence were a major theme of each of these UN world conferences.
Eric. L Sawyer is co-founder of three of the most influential AIDS organizations in the US: The
original AIDS Activist group ACT UP NY; Housing Works, Inc., one of the largest US providers
of housing, drug treatment, medical care and support for homeless people living with HIV; and
Health GAP, Inc. a global advocacy organization fighting for access to essential medicines,
including HIV anti-retroviral drugs in the developing world. Mr. Sawyer has a Master’s Degree
in Public Administration and has been living with symptoms of HIV disease since 1981. He is
currently a Civil Society Partnership Advisor in the New York Office of UNAIDS facilitating
Civil Society involvement in HIV issues at the UN Secretariat.
Patrick Sciarratta is Special Advisor to the Permanent Mission of Sao Tome and Principe to
the United Nations, and has been the executive director of Friendship Ambassadors
Foundation since 1993. Under his leadership, FAF helped create and produces the annual
Youth Assembly at the United Nations, The Rhythms of One World UN Music festival, and a
series of internationally recognized Cultural Exchange Programmes. Mr. Sciarratta was an
elected Member of the Executive Committee at the United Nations’ Department of Public
Information (DPI) for its maximum tenure and then became the co-editor its NGO Reporter, a
quarterly that is disseminated to the 3000+ affiliates connected with DPI at the U.N. He also
serves on its annual DPI/NGO Conference Planning Committee, where he plays a role in the
development of the annual United Nations’ DPI/NGO conferences. He has been invited to be the Treasurer for the last
two major UN DPI Conferences, in Bonn in 2011 and at UNHQ this coming August 2014. Mr. Sciarratta holds a Masters
Degree in Cultural Anthropology from NYU and a Bachelors Degree in Theatre Arts from Queens College; he has
studied and taught in Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic over the past twenty years.