Sayida Peprah‑Wilson, Psy.D.
IAJ Advisor
Dr. Sayida Peprah‑Wilson is a licensed clinical psychologist, educator, and perinatal mental‑health specialist whose work integrates multicultural clinical practice, trauma‑informed care, and reproductive‑justice advocacy. She earned her Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) in Clinical Psychology with a Multicultural Clinical‑Community emphasis from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, following her B.A. in Psychology and Religion from Spelman College.
Dr. Peprah‑Wilson’s clinical career spans community mental‑health agencies, intensive in‑home services, psychiatric hospitals, correctional settings, and private practice. She has served as an Associate Professor of Psychology, teaching courses in multicultural psychology, human development, and the sociocultural determinants of mental health. Her scholarship and pedagogy are informed by extensive international cultural‑immersion research in Ghana, Mexico, Egypt, and India, where she examined indigenous healing traditions and global approaches to psychological well‑being.
Leadership in Maternal and Perinatal Mental Health
A recognized leader in maternal mental health, Dr. Peprah‑Wilson is the Founder and Executive Director of Diversity Uplifts, Inc., a national training and consulting organization dedicated to advancing cultural humility, equity, and trauma‑informed practice across health‑care, social‑service, and perinatal‑care systems. She is also a trained birth doula and a core trainer for community‑based perinatal programs including Frontline Doulas and the Sankofa Birthworkers Collective. Her work aligns closely with national reproductive‑justice movements, including Black Women Birthing Justice and the Black Mamas Matter Alliance.
State and Regional Advisory Service
Dr. Peprah‑Wilson contributes to multiple state and regional maternal‑health advisory bodies, including the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative, the Maternal Suicide Review Committee, the Southern California Maternal Mortality Review Committee, and the Perinatal Equity Initiative Committees of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. She also supports statewide policy development through the DHCS Medi‑Cal Doula Stakeholder Workgroup, advancing systemic reforms to reduce disparities in perinatal outcomes.
Global Mental-Health Discourse and Recognition
Her contributions to global mental‑health discourse include her presentation at the United Nations 65th NGO Conference, where she addressed Mental Illness: An Invisible Disability. She is also recognized publicly for her leadership in perinatal mental health, including receiving the Perinatal Mental Health Champions Award featured on her professional homepage.
Across her clinical, academic, and advocacy roles, Dr. Peprah‑Wilson’s work is grounded in culturally responsive, evidence‑based practice and a sustained commitment to strengthening the effectiveness of health‑care and social‑support systems for marginalized communities.
Contribution to IAJ Publications
Dr. Peprah‑Wilson is a contributor to the text of the IAJ’s central work, Harmonizing the Architecture of Disability Rights. Her scholarship and clinical expertise — spanning perinatal mental health, trauma‑informed care, multicultural psychology, and the sociocultural determinants of mental health — inform the thesis’s analysis of disability as it intersects with maternal health, reproductive justice, and the lived experience of marginalized communities navigating health‑care and judicial systems. Her presentation at the United Nations 65th NGO Conference on Mental Illness: An Invisible Disability bears directly on the thesis’s treatment of invisible progressive neurological and psychiatric disability as a category systemically under‑recognized in court proceedings and accommodation determinations.
The IAJ is honored to count Dr. Peprah‑Wilson among its advisors.