Nellie Tran, PhD

Nellie Tran, PhD (she/they), is the daughter of Vietnamese refugee "boat people," Professor of Counseling and School Psychology at San Diego State University, Past President of the Asian American Psychological Association, and Executive Director of the SDSU Center for Community Counseling & Engagement. As a community psychologist, she works with schools, communities, and agencies to create systems-level changes that reduce the impact of subtle forms of discrimination (e.g., microaggressions) on the health and well-being of people of color and women within the workplace, education, and counseling context. Her work has led to programming and assessment work to create more inclusive settings for students of color in K-12 classrooms, women faculty in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines, and communities of color, especially immigrants and refugees. Most recently, she is best known for her conceptual work reframing "imposter syndrome" to the "infiltrator experience" and exposing the hidden biases in empowerment and self-care. Her deep commitment to exposing hidden biases and ensuring access to privileged information means solidarity with underprivileged and underserved communities where they come together. She also gives away her work exposing higher education for first-generation college students and students of color on TikTok (@DrNellie) and Instagram (@DrNellieTran).