Kirsis Allennys Dipre, a doctoral student in counseling and counselor education, was recently selected for the NBCC Minority Fellowship Program for Doctoral Counselors (NBCC MFP) by The NBCC Foundation, an affiliate of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). As an NBCC MFP Doctoral Fellow, Dipre will receive funding and training to support her education and facilitate her service to underserved populations.
The NBCC Foundation will distribute $20,000 to Dipre and 19 other doctoral counseling students around the country selected to receive the fellowship award. Dipre, a native of North Bergen, New Jersey, is a graduate of Ball State University and Northwestern University. At the School of Education, she is also an AACTE Holmes Scholar through the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. As part of this prestigious group, Dipre will be supported for three years of doctoral study at the University while participating in mentorship, leadership, research and policy activities on a national scale.
“Kirsis is known amongst CHS faculty and her peers as a staunch advocate for multicultural and social justice reform,” says Derek Seward, associate professor and chair of the counseling and human services department. “She is a catalyst for raising awareness regarding oppressive systems no matter the context.”
Dipre is interested in researching the structural barriers to access of mental health services that exist for Latinxs, particularly Afro-Latinx immigrants in the United States. Her interests are focused on understanding how systems—political, social, and economic—may contribute to the salient concerns outlined in the literature for Afro-Latinxs, which include colorism, lack of belongingness, stereotypes related to literacy, mental health stigma and acculturation processes.
As a graduate assistant at Syracuse University, one of her roles is providing clinical supervision to counselors-in-training working with clients of marginalized identities. The fellowship will help Dipre to continue her research through completion of her dissertation, advocacy efforts for improved training and education of counselors-in-training, and participation at national conferences.