Thomas P. Carrillo Leadership in Diversity Award

The 2024 Award Nomination period is now closed.

The Minnesota Psychological Association has made numerous strides within the last several years in bolstering our efforts to enhance diversity within our State Psychological Association. Our initiative began in 2002 with an elaborate strategic plan voted on by our MPA Governing Council. Our strategic plan included key areas of focus addressing organizational infrastructure and institutional barriers to access, recruitment and retention of ethnic minority psychologists and students. Although MPA is primarily comprised of psychologists of European descent, our commitment to diversity is a core value of our organization. While this value was first evidenced by our diversity plan, it is best exemplified by the diversity statement. It states that MPA is an organization dedicated to: “Increasing our multicultural competencies and effectiveness as educators, researchers, administrators, policy makers, and practitioners.” Thus, one aspect of our mission is to enhance and advance professional psychological practice to benefit diverse human differences that include, but are not limited to, differences in age, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language or socioeconomic status.

Great leadership, courage, effort and commitment are often required to make a difference in the face of systemic barriers. MPA’s efforts to honor the vision and spirit of this commitment can be seen in a variety of initiatives successfully implemented over the course of the last several years. One of these initiatives is the Thomas P. Carrillo Leadership in Diversity Award. This award is given to an individual who has broken downs systemic barriers and who has promoted diversity competence through practice, teaching, advocacy or research. In other words, the recipient is someone who has exemplified Outstanding Organizational and Professional Leadership In Promoting Diversity in Minnesota Psychology. 

This award is administered by the MPA Diversity Committee and is presented to a recipient each year at the MPA Annual Conference.

All 2024 awards will be presented at the MPA Annual Conference on Thursday, April 4, 2024.