Last year reminded us that activism, scholarship, and community work are sustained not only through the struggle but also through healing, connection, and collective joy. It was a poignant reminder that liberation is not an endpoint, but an ongoing process nourished by our relationships, resilience, and shared humanity within our communities. We came together to create a space to not only acknowledge our shared struggles but also to celebrate and feel joy despite the ongoing hardships in our increasingly challenging environment.
Building on this foundation, this year’s theme, “Envisioning Radical Futures Within & Outside Asian American Psychology,” invites us to move beyond sustaining ourselves within existing systems to imagine and create new possibilities altogether. If resistance and joy help us endure and transform the present, radical futures ask us to dream beyond it and to consider what liberation could look like when structural inequities are dismantled and our communities thrive.
Envisioning radical futures requires critical reflection and courageous imagination. It calls us to reimagine psychological science, mental health care, education, and community systems in ways that center cultural wisdom, lived experience, and collective well-being. Radical futures are not distant ideals; they are built through the practices, knowledge, and resilience already present within our communities.
This year’s theme encourages scholars, clinicians, activists, and community leaders to share work that pushes boundaries, challenges dominant narratives, and opens pathways toward more just and equitable futures. Interdisciplinary collaboration, culturally grounded approaches, and community-engaged scholarship are especially welcome as we collectively engage in imagining what becomes possible when healing, justice, and belonging are fully realized.
