Shari Miles-Cohen, Ph.D., joined NCA as Executive Director in January 2022. Before joining NCA, Miles-Cohen served as the American Psychological Association’s (APA) primary expert on domestic human rights and issues affecting marginalized populations in the US, overseeing APA’s Ethnic Minority Affairs, Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, and Women’s Portfolios. She co-created and led APA’s flagship leadership development program and the innovative “I am Psyched! Initiative,” now a digitized exhibit in the Smithsonian Learning Lab.
Previously, Miles-Cohen led the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, the African American Women’s Institute at Howard University, and the Women’s Research & Education Institute. She was a Congressional Fellow and a District of Columbia Commission for Women member. She has traveled extensively domestically and internationally to promote the interface between research and policy and has convened six international interdisciplinary conferences.
Miles-Cohen is a member of the Palo Alto University Board of Trustees. She is an APA Fellow and a member of professional societies focused on gender, ethnicity and culture, social issues, disability, leadership, science, and philanthropy.
Miles-Cohen earned her Ph.D. in personality psychology from Howard University and has published scholarly works throughout her career. Most recently, she co-authored an article on women’s leadership development and co-edited a book on eliminating health inequities for women with disabilities.