Williams Powell earned her PhD in community psychology from DePaul University. Her research interests focus on understanding how churches affect the sexual health outcomes of African-American adolescents and their families. She has a strong record of conducting research using a community-engaged approach. She embraces an interdisciplinary philosophy, which allows her to draw on theories from psychology, public health and sociology as well as incorporate both qualitative and quantitative research methods in her work. She is currently a protégée in APA’s Cyber Mentors program.