Dr. Tahira Mahdi is a community psychologist and consultant based in the Baltimore-Washington, DC region.
Dr. Mahdi develops and facilitates workshops and presentations for community programs, businesses, organizations, and college/university students and personnel. She also consults to businesses and organizations regarding internal and external community matters, research, and evaluation.
From a qualitative case study with the Go-Go music-cultural community, Dr. Mahdi developed a conceptual framework called Of the Community, which speaks to culturally-based communities and to marginalized communities who may be the focus of collaboration by researchers, organizations, and/or institutions. It also speaks to researchers, organizations, and institutions as they learn to consider issues of power and cultural marginalization when they engage communities.
Dr. Mahdi also explores themes of community and belonging through fiction writing and filmmaking. Her bold, adventurous novel This Is Not How It Was Supposed to Go and the comedic, surrealist screenplay and feature film Caught Out There expand these conversations for and with the public.
She is also a member of Sista Docs Exhale, a team of creative social scientists dedicated to research-based personal, professional, and community development. They specialize in hosting workshops and events, as well as qualitative research project management and community-focused education.
A strong media and entertainment background strengthens Dr. Mahdi’s work. Her early career included programming and on-air work in radio and television after she earned a diploma at the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland. Dr. Mahdi has been an arts and entertainment journalist for many years, contributing to independent media outlets such as Take Me Out to the Go-Go. Dr. Mahdi earned a B.A. in Psychology and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Human Services Psychology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).