Melina Selverston
Sometimes we change our life.
Sometimes we change the world.
Hello, I'm Melina. I'm a writer, editor, and environmental advocate living in San Francisco. As an author I explore questions of courage.
As an advocate I work at the intersection of human rights and the environment. I'm always seeking opportunities to apply my skills. Specialties include: Developmental and content editing, strategic partnerships; creative philanthropy; productive group processes.
I also sing.
A Brief Bio
I write at Page Street in San Francisco, California where I am an active member of the writing community. My first novel manuscript, Judith and the General, won a first chapter literary contest, and first place in an upmarket women's fiction contest sponsored by Writer's Digest.
Raised in San Diego California, I lived in France, Germany, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, New York City and Washington, DC before settling in San Francisco. I speak five languages.
I was the founding director of an environmental nonprofit in Washington DC, building alliances between conservation and indigenous organizations in the Amazon Basin. I moved to San Francisco to work for the Goldman Environmental Foundation. Currently I support environmental defenders as a consultant for non-profits and small businesses, and I serve on the board of International Rivers.
Check out my industrial ragtime band, Parlor Tricks.
About My Work
Organizations I have worked for include: Seventh Generation Fund, Bank Information Center, The Amazon Alliance, Rainforest Foundation, First People's Worldwide, International Funders of Indigenous Peoples, The Goldman Environmental Prize, Cultural Survival, Waterkeeper Alliance.
Education
PhD
Columbia University
I earned my doctorate in political science from Columbia University. I published my dissertation as a well-reviewed book called Ethnopolitcs in Ecuador: Indigenous Rights and the Strengthening of Democracy.
BA
UC Santa Cruz
I graduated from UCSC in Sociology and Latin American Studies with an honors thesis about indigenous autonomy based on my research in Sandinista controlled Nicaragua.
Adjunct Professor
I have taught at John Hopkins University, George Washington University, American University, Georgetown University, Columbia University, and SAIS.