DeAnna Harris-McKoy
MFT family therapy ’09
Associate Professor and Director of the Specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy Program, Northern Illinois University (DeKalb, Illinois)
Age 39
My Greatest Accomplishment
Excluding the professional awards and grants I received and surviving breast cancer, my greatest accomplishment is the success of my former students, supervisees and mentees. It is soul nourishing to watch them achieve what they thought and what others told them they could not achieve. It is amazing to see the progression of their professional confidence and know that I had some influence on it.
How Drexel Helped Me
Drexel provided a supportive and rigorous environment to transform my raw talents of helping people into intentional, culturally informed therapeutic skills. It was evident that the professors cared not only about my professional development, but also my personal development. Knowing and feeling that care inspired me to be more studious and active in our various professional associations. I intentionally try to recreate that environment of care and rigor for students I teach and mentor.
Where I Hope to Be in Five Years
In the next five years, I hope to still be an administrator, professor, researcher and therapist. I would like to expand the psychoeducational workshops offered through my private practice to increase mental health literacy. I would also like to start a nonprofit focused on youth development.
How I Pay It Forward
Professionally, I pay it forward through mentorship of students and early career professionals along with providing the curriculum for the Minority Fellowship Program under the Foundation for the Advancement of Human Systems. Wherever I live, I like to serve my community. Currently, I volunteer at the local food bank and serve as vice president of the Hoffman Estates (IL) Chapter of The Links Inc. Also, I am establishing a scholarship at my high school for students who are interested in becoming marriage and family therapists.