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Selena Cozart, PhD.
EM: Selena@consultingcozart.com
PH: (434) 825-9096

 

DISCIPLINE/SPECIALTY 

Collaborative Stakeholder Processes

Facilitation of Equity Initiatives 

Public Engagement and Outreach 

Evaluation

EDUCATION

Ph.D Education Evaluation with a concentration on Multicultural Education, University of Virginia (2002)

M.T. Secondary English Education, University of Virginia (1993)

B.A. English Language and Literature, University of Virginia (1991)

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Birth Sisters of Charlottesville

Strategic Doing™ Practitioner

SELECTED EXPERIENCE

Selena Cozart, PhD has extensive expertise in facilitating dialogue and community engagement in the service of equity and justice. Selena, a highly skilled race, equity diversity, and inclusion (REDI) Consultant, is well-versed in the full range of skills and expertise required to affect community change through dialogue and action. Selena has been an active participant in the UCARE program at the University of Virginia which has been instrumental in the UVA's recognition and accountability in relation to its unpaid, underpaid, and enslaved laborers throughout the history of the University. 

 

2008-Present: Institute for Engagement & Negotiation  

Lead Diversity Consultant – Responsibilities include serving on the steering committee, planning, organizing, and facilitating Pall meetings of constituents interested in creating meaningful action and sustainable change in the impact of the legacy of harm brought by structural racism in the form of slavery, segregation, and discrimination in the University and the surrounding community. Outcomes of this work include the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers which will be installed on University Grounds within the next 2 years. 

 

Community Facilitator – Responsibilities include facilitating conversations with community stakeholders on a variety of equity initiatives to ensure greater representation and history-telling within the University of Virginia and Charlottesville communities

 

May 2018-Sept 2018: Democracy Summer Fellows Program 

Regional Co-Director – Responsibilities include facilitation, project management, and partnering with community stakeholders and high school and college students in order to provide training and organizing infrastructure to democratic campaigning.  

 

2011-2015: Piedmont Housing Alliance 

Program and Service Coordinator at Friendship Court – Responsibilities included service delivery, identification of needs, representations, and program design. Successfully designed and coordinated Community Days and Father’s Day festivals that involved residents from nearby low-income communities, several nonprofits, community organizations, City departments, UVA departments, and local businesses. Created and coordinated the first community-based Girls On The Run program in Central Virginia for elementary school aged girls in the Friendship Court Community. 

 

2003-2007: University of Virginia 

Assistant Professor – Responsibilities include teaching, collaborative program development, facilitation of University, student and school communication. Participation and retention of under-represented teachers increased during service in this role.

HIGHLIGHTED EXPERIENCE IN: FACILITATION, MEDIATION, & TRAINING

Facilitating Collaborative Change

And 

Consensus Building

Training and Educational Content Delivery

Selected Presentations and Talks 

Cultivate Charlottesville, Charlottesville Food Justice Network, 2020-2021

Virginia Humanities, 2021

Move2Health Coalition, 2019-2020 

Montpelier Descendants Community, 2019

Piedmont Housing Alliance, Ongoing

Local Food, Local Places Workshop, 2019

The Perkins House of Charlottesville, 2019

Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries (CALM), 2019

American Evolution and the Presidential Precinct: Global Pathfinders Summit, 2019

Charlottesville City Black Male Achievement Initiative, 2018

Darden Curry Partnership for Leadership in Education, 2018 

Living Waters: An Interfaith Summit on Water Conservancy, 2013 

Virginia Beach Listening Sessions: Sea Level Rise in Hampton Roads, 2011

 

 

Community Meditation & Restorative Services, Inc., Workshop for Facilitators and Trainers, 2018 

Alliance for Peacebuilding EPP Annual Conference, Transforming Community Spaces: A Pilot Workshop 

for Community Facilitators, 2018

Dialogue Across Grounds at UVA, Invited Facilitator Trainer, 2014 

The Covenant School, Diversity Workshop, 2004

Albemarle County Department of Social Services, Diversity Training Module, 2003 & 2004

 

 

National Conference for Dialogue and Deliberation Conference Session, 2018 

The Center for Nonprofit Excellence, POP Talk, 2018 

Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries’ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration, Invited Keynote 

Speaker, 2014

Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution Annual Conference, 2010

John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation National Symposium, 2010

Bridgewater College, Invited Presenter for Student Leadership Training, 2009

Charlottesville/Albemarle Student Mediator Summit, 2008

Virginia College Access Network annual conference, 2006

Symposium on Race and Society at the University of Virginia, 2006

Florida Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators Annual Conference, 2006

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), 2006

Black History Month Speaker Series at University of Wisconsin, Presented Keynote Address, 2006

University of Virginia Student Financial Aid Summit, 2006

Commonwealth College Access Network annual conference, 2005 

Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance annual conference, 2005

Albemarle County Foster Care Services Retreat, 2005

National Association for Multicultural Education, 2002 & 2001

Virginia Association for Multicultural Education, 2000

AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS

  • ​Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society (2005)

  • Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education (April 1992)

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE

  • Advisory Committee, Perkins House Charlottesville, 2018-2021

  • Certified Birth Doula, Birth Sisters of Charlottesville, 2016-Present

  • TEDx Charlottesville, Steering Committee, Host, & Speakers Coach, 2016-Present

  • University Community Action for Racial Equity (UCARE) Steering Committee, 2009-Present

  • Memorial for Enslaved Laborers Faculty Advisory Committee, 2010-Present

  • Human Rights Commissioner, City of Charlottesville, 2013-14

  • African American Teaching Fellows of Charlottesville/Albemarle, 2003-2008

  • Hereford Residential College, University of Virginia, 2003-2008

  • Students in Education Engaged in Diversity Scholarship for Changes (SEEDS for Change), 2005-2007

  • Curry Faculty Diversity Counsel, 2005-2007

  • University Committee on Fraternities and Sororities, 2006-2007

  • UVA Women’s Center, HURS Mentor for undergraduate women of color, 2005-2007

  • UVA Office of African American Affairs Mentoring Program, 2005-Present

  • UVA Holland Scholar Selection Committee, 2007

  • Omicron Delta Kappa Edgar F. Shannon Selection Committee, 2006

  • UVA Office of New Student Programs Program Coordinator Search Committee, 2006

  • Curry School of Education Admissions and Student Financial Aid Subcommittee, 2004-2007

  • Journal of Negro Education, 2004-2005

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