Dr. Maysa Akbar is a groundbreaking psychologist, best-selling author, and healer. Dr. Akbar is a thought leader and expert in racial trauma, allyship, diversity, equity, and inclusion. She is an engaging and dynamic speaker who is sought by corporations, philanthropies, nonprofit organizations, urban school districts, and social service agencies in their efforts to promote antiracism and advance racial equity. She brings insight, courage, and passion to her conversations with communities of color and white communities alike.

In her first book, Urban Trauma, A Legacy of Racism, Dr. Akbar introduces the Urban Trauma™ framework, unpacking how people of color live in a state of crisis due to oppressive societal systems, resulting in feelings of anger, rage, and hopelessness. In her second book, Beyond Ally: The Pursuit of Racial Justice, with wisdom and compassion, Dr. Akbar advances her racial justice work through the creation of the Ally Identity Model, which details the stages of allyship in dismantling systemic oppression.

Dr. Akbar is a board-certified clinical psychologist and has held the position of an Assistant Clinical Professor at Yale University, School of Medicine. She founded Integrated Wellness Group, a psychotherapy practice in New Haven, CT, specializing in treating race-based trauma in 2008.  In her spare time, she engages in meditation and yoga practices focused on healing and liberation from race-based trauma.