Member Spotlight: Polly Palumbo
I’m a firm believer in the power of the community to help kids and families thrive. It takes a village, as they say. As a research psychologist I spent many years studying children and young adults. For over twenty years, I’ve worked to promote understanding and wellbeing in a wide variety of engagements and roles. My journey has taken me through group homes, psychiatric institutions and home visits in Appalachia to Psychology Today, Proctor and Gamble, Yahoo, Microsoft, Facebook, The United Nations and even The White House. In all my pursuits, whether working as a parenting expert and columnist, researcher, teacher, lecturer, maternal and child health advocate, or most recently, mental health consultant – a thread runs through it all. My goal has been to help people keep informed and engaged in the care and support of their families, schools and communities.
I planned to stay in academia and have a career as a professor and researcher. After finishing my doctorate and having my third child, though, I found myself eager to break out of the lab and lecture hall. Also, as a researcher I couldn’t help but notice a lack of reliable, evidenced-based parenting advice in news, parenting magazines and online parenting fare at the time. So, I birthed Momma Data, my fourth child, and I’ve had a lot of fun ever since writing, speaking and conducting forums and workshops for parents, educators and others invested in youth. After years spent writing quite dull scientific papers for other researchers, it was a breath of fresh air to blend psychological insights and the latest science with a good dose of common sense and humor.
My newest mission is shining a spotlight on mental health. Lately there’s been a renewed appetite for more public conversation and education around mental health. I’m thankful for the opportunity to get to talk and partner with more people on this front in my consulting practice. We don’t talk about mental health enough, and when we do, it’s often about when things go wrong. But there’s another side to mental health, the upside - the habits that keep a person healthy and well – in good mental health. To this end, I work with leaders and organizations to promote wellbeing in their communities. I advise and guide them on how to create and maintain healthy climates, cultures, policies, programs and behaviors. As part of this work I design and present wellbeing workshops, presentations and discussions in schools, towns, clubs, workplaces and other community venues.
The Co-Co grabbed my attention early on. A friend turned me on to the Co-Co. As she said “this sounds like you.” After my first visit I couldn’t resist the lure of this growing and energetic community of diverse, thoughtful and creative entrepreneurs. As they say, it takes a village…and not just for raising children.
The Co-Co offers a rather rare chance to connect with professionals in pursuits similar to my own and others quite different. It’s easy to get siloed in a profession or industry and connect only with like minds. My professional journey hasn’t been the typical or traditional “psychologist’ path. I’m glad to meet and learn from others who have veered off the path or changed directions professionally. Some of my best ideas and mentors have come from outside my profession. There’s a certain amount of magic in the cross pollination of diverse professions, paths and voices coming together and I value that experience!