Dr. Cheryl Grills

Dr. Cheryl Grills is a Clinical Psychologist with a current emphasis in Community Psychology. A national Past President of the Association of Black Psychologists, she is a tenured, Full Professor at Loyola Marymount University and Director of their Psychology Applied Research Center. Dr. Grills also serves as Vice-Chair of the Los Angeles County Sybil Brand Commission which addresses conditions and practices within adult LA County jails, youth probation and correctional facilities, and group homes for children. She served as Co-Executive Director of Los Angeles County’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Protection leading to important changes in the County’s child welfare system. As part of the Association of Black Psychologists’ team, Dr. Grills co-designed the Emotional Emancipation (EE) Circles community self-help model developed by The Community Healing Network and is the leader of the Global EE Circles Training Team. Dr. Grills research interests, publications, and projects include African Psychology, mental health prevention and treatment with African-Americans, substance abuse, community psychology, community mental health, and applied research as well as program evaluation with community-based organizations engaged in community organizing on a host of social justice issues. Among others, she currently leads the statewide evaluation of the California Reducing Disparities Project—a mental health disparities initiative; a CDC REACH grant on health equity issues; and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant, a national study examining community organizing as a public health strategy to address in communities of color.