Kimberlyn Leary, Ph.D., M.P.A.
Fellowship Year(s): 2014-2015
Profession: Psychologist
Specialty: Behavioral Health/Mental Health/Psychiatry
Fellowship Details:
New America
White House Council on Women and Girls
Massachucsetts
At time of Fellowship
Kimberlyn Leary is an associate professor of psychology at the Harvard Medical School and chief psychologist at the Cambridge Health Alliance. She is also a faculty affiliate at the program on negotiation at Harvard Law School and an adjunct lecturer at New York University.
Leary began her career as a clinical practitioner focused on improving access to diverse communities. Her early work on “negotiated transactions” in psychotherapy expanded to broader research on negotiation and conflict management. Leary’s global work on conflict negotiations includes studying “critical moments” in mediations to end armed conflict in Southeast Asia and researching social enterprise ventures in the Middle East. She teaches courses on leadership and conflict transformation to undergraduates at Harvard College, on advanced negotiation and mediation to senior executives at Harvard Law School, and on physician–community engagement and the doctor-patient relationship at Harvard Medical School.
In her work as chief psychologist at the Cambridge Health Alliance, Leary directs the division of psychology and its training programs to deliver culturally sensitive care supporting the hospital’s primary care centers, specialty mental health, and acute emergency services. This work includes facilitating partnerships with community agencies, law enforcement, and school systems and assisting with the health system’s transformation to becoming an accountable care organization.
Leary received her BA from Amherst College, her MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School, and her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan. She received additional postgraduate training as a psychoanalyst. For the past four years, she was the scientific program chair of the American Psychoanalytic Association.
Current Info:
Senior Advisor, Office of the CEOs
New America
Health Disparities;Mental Health/Substance Abuse
Since Fellowship:
“Kimberlyn Leary is a senior vice president, managing research and program development across the Urban Institute. She comes to Urban from Harvard University, where she is an associate professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, an associate professor in the department of health policy and management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and a lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. For four years, she directed the Enabling Change program for the Doctor of Public Health program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Leary also served as executive director of policy outreach and of the Center of Excellence in Women’s Mental Health at McLean Hospital. Before that, she was chief psychologist at the Cambridge Health Alliance for nearly 12 years.
Leary served as an advisor to the White House during the Obama administration. As a Robert Wood Johnson health policy fellow, she helped launch the Advancing Equity initiative for the Obama White House Council on Women and Girls. She was also an advisor to the health division at White House Office of Management and Budget and senior policy advisor to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Leary served on the Biden-Harris transition as a volunteer part-time member of the Agency Review Team for the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the Executive Office of the President.
Leary writes, consults, and teaches on adaptive leadership, leading teams, cross-boundary collaboration, negotiation, and conflict transformation. She holds an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School and a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan, and she completed advanced training as a clinical psychoanalyst at the Michigan Psychoanalytic Association. Leary serves on the board of trustees at Amherst College, the Austen Riggs Center, and the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute and serves as an advisor to Pivotal Ventures and the Upswing Fund. Additionally, she serves as a judge for the McArthur Foundation’s 100&Change competition and for Lever for Change’s Lone Star Competition.”
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