Pease Recognized for Contributions to Public Policy, Advocacy

May was a busy month for M Pease, a Ph.D. candidate in the counseling psychology program: they successfully defended their dissertation, they became Chair of the Maryland Commission on LGBTQIA+ Affairs, and also were selected as the 2026 recipient of the Distinguished Contribution to Public Policy Award by the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Division 44. Division 44 is the APA’s Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity.

Pease has been invited to the Division 44 annual awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., in August to receive the honor.

Pease, B.S. PSYC ’22, M.S. Counseling Psychology ’24, focuses their research on race, gender, and sexuality and how intersectional systems and experiences of oppression contribute to mental health disparities. Pease also explores how we can elevate experiences of strength and joy in marginalized communities.

They were recognized by Division 44 for their work centering on LGBTQ+ and trans community experiences. In partnership with policymakers, advocacy organizations, and community members, they have used community-based research methods to create public-facing research and policy briefs that informed legislative and other systems' advocacy efforts for marginalized communities across Maryland.

Their work on the 2023 Maryland Trans Survey, the largest state-specific community survey of gender diverse communities at the time of publication, and on the Maryland Commission for LGBTQIA+ Affairs were central to the recognition.

“This honor highlights how critical it is for us to invest in science-led advocacy efforts to support policies and practices that improve the lives of our communities. To be the first graduate student to receive this award is particularly special, as it sends the message that our students have power, that our research, even and especially earlier in our careers, can have a profound impact on the systems that shape the world around us,” Pease said. “The new perspectives we bring to the field and the ways we carry our lived experience and that of our communities can shape profoundly innovative work that makes a real difference.”

This honor is especially notable because it is the first time that a student has won the award, said Associate Professor of Psychology Jonathan Mohr, who serves as Pease’s advisor.

“In my years of training doctoral students, I have never encountered anyone who so consistently orients everything they do toward real-world impact. M’s remarkable range of work as a doctoral student—academic research on intersectional LGBTQ+ health, clinical care for gender diverse communities, community-based assessment through Trans Maryland, and state and national policy advocacy—is animated by the same driving question: ‘How do we create a world where these communities can truly thrive?’ That orientation, and the discipline to pursue it on so many fronts simultaneously, is what makes this recognition so fitting,” Mohr said. “The fact that no student has received it before says everything about how extraordinary M truly is.”

Pease is currently completing their one-year APA-accredited doctoral internship in health service psychology at Towson University's Counseling Center, providing psychological services to the Towson student community.

Looking ahead, Pease plans to continue working to support LGBTQIA+ health equity, connection, and thriving across Maryland and nationally in different roles. They hope to land a faculty role one day, and to pursue licensure as a psychologist.

Photo provided by M Pease

Published on Fri, Jun 5, 2026 - 10:35AM