Norma Seledon
Norma Seledon is a Mexican immigrant and has been a resident of Chicago for over 50 years. She has over 40 years of professional commitment to community and grassroots development around issues of gender equity, youth and queer leadership, education attainment by underrepresented groups, domestic violence, sexual assault, substance abuse, cultural competence, racial equity and environmental health. She is a former director of community-based organization Mujeres Latinas en Acción and has served on various non-profit and government advisory committees including the Mayor’s Advisory Council on Women’s Affairs, Latino Affairs, the Governor’s advisory on violence prevention, and co-directed Amigas Latinas, an affinity group for Latina Lesbians.
She has a 35-year history of developing grassroots leadership development programs for women, youth, and Latino communities. She most recently was employed by the Family and Community Engagement Office of Chicago Public Schools where she managed parent involvement funds for the district and developed leadership development curriculum for parent leaders. She sits on various non-profit boards, and consults around various areas which include organizational wellness, coalition building, facilitation and board and staff development. She has provided training on topics of leadership development, engagement, minority access to higher education, domestic violence prevention, anti-racism, homophobia, cultural sensitivity and organizational conflict resolution. In 2016 she was inducted into Chicago’s LGBTQ Hall of Fame. Norma holds a BS in Psychology from Loyola University, an MA, in Higher Ed Leadership from Northeastern University, and a Ph.D. in Community Psychology from National Louis University. Her community research interests center on asset-based personnel engagement, evaluation, women’s leadership development, grassroots organizational wellness, intergenerational organizing, and race relations. Since 2020 Norma has increased her engagement in Racial Equity Access, Diversity and Inclusion training with service to over 30 organizations and several hundred participants. Most recently Norma has served as a meeting facilitator and a bridge between city programs and grassroots organizers.
Norma’s values/approaches include asset-based engagement, participatory methodology, liberatory thinking & action and intergenerational wisdom sharing.
Norma’s consultation & coaching is always tailored for specific needs and value matches. She considers all her work collaborative. She is open to accompany individuals and provide support from various perspectives including social justice, artistic expression, healing, organizational wellness, conflict resolution, professional development, cultural affirmation and spirituality.