About Dr. Wendi

Psychologist, advocate, and educator, Dr. Wendi Williams applies her work at the intersection of education and psychology to her scholarship and leadership praxis. Dr. Williams completed undergraduate studies at the University of California, Davis where she majored in Psychology and minored in African and African American Studies. She completed graduate study at Pepperdine University (MA in Psychology) and Georgia State University, where she earned a doctorate in Counseling Psychology.

A career spanning two decades, Dr. Williams’ work delves into the contours of Black women’s and girls' inner lives, leveraging deep knowledge of their interiority as source content for the development of culturally-responsive educational and psychological interventions. Applying critical lenses of liberation psychology; Womanist, Black, and Intersectional feminist theoretical frames with an equity-centered systems power analysis, Dr. Williams develops and implements educational, wellness, and leadership intervention programming with individuals, groups, and organizations. Her work attends to the individual and organizational transformation required to foment the optimal growth and development of diverse women and girls, while attending to systems-level change at the organizational and societal levels. 

Dr. Williams has made significant scholarly contributions in the field through authored and edited works as well as conference presentations of her research and analysis, and professional development curriculum and workshops. 

With her recently published edited book, WE Matter!: Intersectional Anti-Racist Feminist Interventions with Black Girls and Women and forthcoming books, Black Women at Work: On Refusal and Recovery and The Majestic Place: The Freedom Possible in Black Women’s Leadership, she keeps these conversations in the discourse. 

Of late, she has become more interested in “diminishing the paywall” between the work she engages for and about diverse girls' and women’s lives and the actual communities that can benefit from this work. To this end, she engages in popular media as well as scholarly journals and books to ensure her work is accessible to members of the public and the professionals who will serve them. Currently, this value manifests in the conversations she convenes on her podcast, She(Been)Ready!, which amplifies the leadership legacy of Black women by mining the leadership strategies nestled in Black women’s (and other diverse leaders’) narratives. 

Dr. Wendi Williams leverages her background and platform to lead organizations that support the optimal development of vulnerable communities, especially societal challenges that can be enriched by diverse women’s unique perspectives and approaches to leadership. Some examples include serving as Co-Chair of the Board for Girls Leadership, an organization that teaches girls to exercise the power of their voice through programs grounded in social-emotional learning; and serving multiple roles, including the president, of the Society for the Psychology of Women (SPW), Division 35 of the American Psychological Association (APA). She is currently their representative on the APA Council of Representatives.

The Platform.

Radically Well Together!

In our increasingly complex world, the realm of psychology plays a crucial role in offering insights and guidance on how we can enhance our lives and thrive collectively. The acronym VUCA, representing volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, captures the intricate nature of our current times. Additionally, the concept of polycrisis, as discussed by French theorist Edgar Morin and popularized by Adam Tooze in a 2023 Financial Times article, underscores the multifaceted challenges of leadership amidst these circumstances.

Our world is currently grappling with simultaneous financial, health, education, and climate crises, coupled with the impact of geopolitical tensions. This has left us all dealing with psychosocial and emotional strains, leading to a state of collective unwellness.

As psychologists, we recognize that these challenging circumstances create vulnerabilities that often result in internal conflicts rather than a collective commitment to care and understanding. Crises tend to make us feel overwhelmed, hindering our ability to extend care to others. This is particularly perilous for those who are most vulnerable and in need of the insights provided by psychological science.

The field of psychology serves as a vital voice in addressing the global challenges we face and charting a course forward. Drawing from my experience as a psychologist and educator, I have witnessed the positive impact of making the gifts of our field accessible to diverse communities. It ensures that the benefits of psychological science reach those who might otherwise be excluded.

I proudly advocate for a platform of radical wellness. Despite recent associations of the term with political extremism, I choose this word for its historical roots. In the 17th and 18th centuries, "radical" referred to the actual and figurative roots of a thing, such as plants and trees. As someone deeply connected to nature, I am drawn to the idea of addressing the core issues that contribute to our collective unwellness.

Being radically well involves applying the clarity and consistency of scientific methods to understand the conditions of unwellness in our world. With the rich resources of our field – theories, frameworks, practices, and methodologies – we can courageously address inequitable, unfair, and oppressive conditions for some over others. Throughout my career, I have engaged in this work as a counseling psychologist, educator, leader in professional organizations, and in service to the American Psychological Association. I would be honored to continue this journey as its next president.