Presenters Bios

Morning Keynote

Donna B. Riley, Ph.D., LCSW-R is a NYS licensed clinical social worker, transgender activist, and Clinical Instructor at Stony Brook’s School of Social Welfare. She is also the Clinical Supervisor at the Freedman Center for Clinical Social Work. She has been working on a micro level and macro level with the transgender and gender non-conforming community since 1997. She earned her Ph.D. at Stony University where she also earned her MSW. Her dissertation entitled, Lost and Found: Transgender Elders' Journey toward Authenticity, explored many issues over the lifetime of the study participants. One of the primary findings was the reciprocal nature between Social Representation Theory and Identity Process Theory.

Morning Panelists

Afternoon Keynote: Kevin Nadal, Ph.D.

Dr. Kevin Leo Yabut Nadal is a Professor of Psychology at both John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Graduate Center at the City University of New York. He received his doctorate in counseling psychology from Columbia University in New York City and is one of the leading researchers in understanding the impacts of microaggressions, or subtle forms of discrimination, on the mental and physical health of people of color; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people; and other marginalized groups. He has published over 100 works on multicultural issues in the fields of psychology and education. A California-bred New Yorker, he was named one of People Magazine's hottest bachelors in 2006 and one of NBC's Pride 30 in 2018. He once won an argument with Bill O'Reilly on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor"; and he was even once a Hot Topic on ABC's "The View". He has been featured in the New York Times, Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, the Weather Channel, the History Channel, HGTV, Philippine News, and The Filipino Channel. He is the author of eight books including Filipino American Psychology: A Handbook of Theory, Research, and Clinical Practice (2011, John Wiley and Sons), That's So Gay: Microaggressions and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community (2013, APA Books), and Microaggressions and Traumatic Stress (2018, APA Books). He was the first openly gay President of the Asian American Psychological Association and the first person of color to serve as the Executive Director of the Center for LGBTQ Studies. He is a National Trustee of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) and a co-founder of the LGBTQ Scholars of Color National Network. He has delivered hundreds of lectures across the United States, including the White House and the U.S. Capitol. He has won numerous awards, including the American Psychological Association 2017 Early Career Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest.

Afternoon Panelists

Donna B. Riley, Ph.D. LCSW-R, Kevin Lycke, Ph.D., LCSW-R, Dawn Wigutow, LCSW-R