Selina Rios is a racial justice & educational equity advocate who believes in the power of young people. In her role, she is responsible for developing & implementing City Year’s internal organizational DEI strategy.

After graduating from William Jewell in 2010 with a Bachelor’s in International Relations, Selina moved to the Texas-Mexico border to help start a nonprofit with the Mexican Consulate, serving as a Project Manager for a women’s shelter and a literacy coalition. Selina moved back to her hometown of Kansas City in July 2015 to serve with the City Year Kansas City startup team.

Over her 13 years with City Year, Selina has directly managed over 60 AmeriCorps Members and led six school partnerships with sites in Cleveland, Tulsa & Kansas City. Selina led out on AmeriCorps Member instructional training and managed the tracking, collection, and evaluation of school impact data. In her current role as the Director, Planning & Development with City Year’s Office of Equity, reporting to the Chief Equity Officer, she is primarily responsible for developing & implementing City Year’s internal organizational DEI strategy to deliver an integrated approach in alignment with our mission and values.

Outside of her work with City Year, Selina is a Big with Big Brothers Big Sisters, a school board member with Citizens of the World - KC, and serves on the Board of Directors for Center School District’s Foundation for Education & the Latinx Education Collaborative. Selina was a Surge Academy Fellow in Kansas City and was named to Cleveland’s 40 under 40 Latino Leaders in 2012. Selina enjoys spending time with her rescue puppy, Benjamin Franklin III.