Sankofa Research and Outreach
Who We Are
Sankofa is a research and outreach team under the direction of Collette Chapman-Hilliard, associate professor of counseling psychology and mental health counseling in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services. Sankofa (translated to" go back and get") Research and Outreach (Sankofa R&O) team members engage in scholarship, practice, and service designed to promote and support psychological wellness among African descent people. Using Black psychology frameworks and a critical liberatory lens, our engagements focus on multiple aspects of psychology and counseling.
The team advocates for social justice through research, clinical practice, and service by focusing on community and ancestral strengths. Our team also emphasizes community learning and mentorship, as well as promoting team members’ development by increasing the knowledge, awareness, and skills required to become culturally humble and responsive mental health providers, researchers, educators, and community leaders.
Our team members work to promote a psychology consistent with the team’s motto, “learning from our past, building for our future.” Through conducting research, engaging with communities, and developing interventions, we integrate Black psychology, strengths-based and critical liberatory perspectives, and historical context as we seek to center the lives and lived experiences of African descent people, promoting liberation, psychological wellness, and joy.
Our Past and Our Present
Sankofa R&O began in 2017 when Collette Chapman-Hilliard, joined the faculty at the University of Georgia. She envisioned a collaborative research team focused on:
- (1) Serving African descent populations across their intersectional lived experiences in a culturally responsive manner
- (2) Translating theory to practice and engaging with communities through service
- (3) Continually contributing to Black psychology.
Ecclesia Savage, Shawntell Pace, and Edmonia Doe were the first members of the team, and they laid the groundwork for many of the team’s scholarly and community engagements including our annual Black history month events and The Healing Circle.
As a collective, Sankofa R&O works on research, practice innovations, community outreach, and advocacy. Team members present at conferences, local and regional community events, and to UGA campus community members together. From collaborating on manuscripts for publication to developing sustainable service endeavors to attending dissertation defenses as a group, team members work together to uphold the team’s motto.
Meet Our Team
Sankofa Alumni
- Ecclesia Savage, post-doctoral intern at Midtown Psychotherapy
- Brean’a Parker, assistant professor at North Carolina State University
- Raven Cokley, visiting assistant professor at Mercer University
- Edmonia Doe, therapist at Bloom Wellness and Therapy Center
Sankofa in the Media
- The Inevitability that is Black Migration by Ammy Sena, Jatawn Tickles, and Collette Chapman-Hilliard
- Black to the Roots: Reclaiming Spirituality to Promote Self-Care by Jatawn Tickles, Jasiah McCalla, Shawntell N. Pace, Tanisha Pelham, and Collette Chapman-Hilliard
- TEDxTalk: Sacred Spaces: A Source for Black Healing by Shawntell N. Pace and Tanisha Pelham
- UGA Grad Students Provide Space to Discuss Race, Gender, and Mental Health by The Red & Black
- Healing Through Community by The Front Page
Selected Publications and Professional Presentations
Selected Publications
- Chapman-Hilliard, C., Hunter, E., Adams-Bass, V., Mbilishaka, A., Jones, B., Holmes, E., & Holman, A. C. (2020). Racial identity and historical narratives in the civic engagement of Black emerging adults . Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.
- Chapman-Hilliard, C., Adams-Bass, V., Holman, A., and Pace, S. (2019). The difference between Black history knowledge can make: A consideration of psychological influences. In L. King (Ed.), Perspectives on the Teaching of Black History in Schools. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Selected Professional Presentations
- Parker, B., Pace, S., Cokley, R., and Chapman-Hilliard, C. (2022). “Black Womxn’s Teaching Mentorship Narratives in Psychology and Counseling: An Autoethnographic Study”. [Symposium]. American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
- Tickles, J., Pace, S., Pelham, T., McCalla, J., Reid, N., Sena, A., and Chapman-Hilliard, C. (2022) “Black, gifted, and inappropriately trained: Providing culturally relevant therapy for the culture”. [Symposium]. American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
- Pace. S., McCalla, J., Tickles, J., Pelham, T., Reid, N., and Chapman-Hilliard, C. (2022). “Healing Together: Models of Group Therapy for African Descent University Students”. [Symposium]. Association of Black Psychology Annual Convention: In Unity, Coming Back Together Again.
- Pelham, T., Pace, S., Tickles, N., McCalla, J., Reid, N., Chapman-Hilliard, C. (2022). “Black by Demand: A Model for Black Student Mental Health Engagement at PWI’s”. [Symposium]. Association of Black Psychology Annual Convention: In Unity, Coming Back Together Again.
- Chapman-Hilliard, C, Pelham, T., Pace, S., Tickles, J., Sena., A., McCalla, J., Reid, N. (2022). “Because We Are: Exploring Mental Health and Wellness across the African Diaspora”. [Symposium]. 2022 Annual Winter Roundtable Conference: Collective Action & Liberation in Psychology and Education.
- Pace, S., Pelham, T., Tickles, J., Chapman-Hilliard, C., (2021). “The Healing Circle: A Model for Centering Black Women’s Experiences in Therapy”. [Poster]. American Psychological Association Inaugural Psychology of Black Women Virtual Conference.
- Sena, A., Tickles, J., Pelham, T., Pace, S., McCalla, J., Alford, R., Chapman-Hilliard, C. (2021) Examining the Interrelationships of Hair Experiences, Racial Identity Formation and Mental Health Amongst Women of African Descent. [Poster]. Association of Black Psychology Virtual Annual Convention: Black Forward.
- Pelham, T., Pace, S., Tickles, J., Sena., A., McCalla, J., Alford, R., Chapman-Hilliard, C. (2021) In Joy: Using Joy to Resist Anti-Black Racism and Trauma Among African Descent Communities. [Symposium]. Association of Black Psychology Virtual Annual Convention: Black Forward.
- Pelham, T., Pace, S., Tickles, J., McCalla, J., Alford, R., Chapman-Hilliard, C. (2021) “An Act of Political Warfare: Clinical Work with Black Womxn that Promotes Self-Care and Wellness: Showing Up As All of Me: The Importance of Acknowledging Black Womxn’s Aesthetics in Counseling”. [Symposium]. American Psychological Association Virtual Conference.
- Pace, S., Tickles, J., Savage, E., Pelham, T., McCalla, J., Collette Chapman-Hilliard, C. (2021). “Our History, Our Liberation: Using Black History Knowledge to combat anti-Black racism​”. [Symposium] 38th Winter Roundtable Conference, Virtual.
- Holmes, E., Pace, S. (2020). Real life: Processing racial trauma with Black women. [Symposium]. Oregon Counseling Association Virtual Conference 20/20: A Culturally Responsive Vision for Counseling During a Global Pandemic and National Uprising, Portland, OR.
- Pelham, T., Pace, S., Savage, E., and Chapman-Hilliard, C. (2020). For us by us: A model for mental health engagement for Black students. [Symposium]. The Black Mental Health Symposium Conference, Atlanta, GA.
- Pace, S., Pelham, T., Savage, E., Chapman-Hilliard, C. (2020) When Brown-Skinned Girls Heal: A Model for Support Groups for African American Women. [Roundtable]. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.
- Pace, S., Savage, E., and Chapman-Hilliard, C. My Ancestors Taught Me.(2020) [Roundtable]. Counseling Psychology Conference, New Orleans, LA.
- Chapman-Hilliard, C., Pace, S., Pelham., T., Holmes, E., Doe, E., McCalla, J. (2020) Using a Black History Knowledge Framework across Therapeutic Modalities and in Community Advocacy. [Symposium]. Counseling Psychology Conference, New Orleans, LA.
- Chapman-Hilliard, C., Pace, S., Holmes, E. (2019). The Role of Black History Knowledge in Predicting Mental Health and Coping Responses Among Black Americans. [Poster]. Annual Association of Black Psychologists Conference, Orlando, FL.
- Doe, E., Pace, S., Holmes, E., Chapman-Hilliard, C. (2019). Black history knowledge as a clinical intervention tool. [Poster]. Annual Association of Black Psychologists Conference, Orlando, FL.