Dr. Yara Mekawi is a licensed psychologist, co-founder of the DEAR project, and assistant professor at the University of Louisville. She earned her bachelor’s degree in applied psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago and her PhD in clinical-community psychology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Her work focuses on examining on understanding how racism is maintained and how it affects the mental health of BIPOC. Dr. Mekawi has published over 50 empirical research papers on topics like dehumanization, denial of racism, and racial microaggressions. Dr. Mekawi’s clinical work emphasizes culturally informed assessment, contextually driven hypothesis generation, collaborative goal setting, and implementation of evidence-based, culturally informed intervention.

In terms of service work, Dr. Mekawi is interested in the assessment and integration of anti-racism and social justice oriented practices within organizations and the implementation of interventions designed to effectively dismantle White supremacy at individual, cultural, and systemic levels.