Selina was living in Chiapas, Mexico when she received a letter of admission to the IU Folklore and Ethnomusicology program. She was on a year-long journey documenting foodways and folktales in India, Madagascar, Mexico, Guatemala, and Brazil. After this work, she had intended to enroll at IU and focus her studies on foodways. School unfolded differently than she expected, offering her an opportunity to develop the diverse set of skills that have amounted to her current career path. Selina apprenticed with Jon Kay at Traditional Arts Indiana, learning from Kay “how to lead an organization with heart and care.” Her Masters work with the Mathers Museum of World Culture, through which she collected for, curated, built and evaluated an ethnographic exhibition gave her “critical project management skills.”

At IU she also taught courses and helped to plan an international conference on minority languages of Latin America. In course work she reflect upon the community work in which she was engaged.

In 2010, Selina joined the staff of the Philadelphia Folklore Project (PFP). She says “At the time, this was my dream job. I had met PFP’s founder, Debora Kodish at IU and at American Folklore Society meetings and always felt connected to her way of talking, writing and doing the work that she calls ‘public interest folklore.’ In my last year at IU, I couldn't believe that PFP had an open position.” In 2014, after four years at PFP, Selina became the Director, a position she held for 5 years. Also, in 2014, Selina joined the faculty of Goucher College’s Masters in Cultural Sustainability where she continues to teaches courses on Cultural Partnerships and Non-profit Leadership and Management. “If I could give my graduate student self some guidance now, I’d tell her ‘All the work you’re doing now will open a path for you.’ I’ve used the skills I acquired at IU every day.”

Teaching at Goucher has been an unexpected highlight of Selina’s career. While she was working at PFP, she was able to evaluate and interrogate the impacts of “folklore for social change” initiatives with Goucher students in her Cultural Partnerships course. This gave her valued insight into PFP’s praxis and helped her name the diverse impacts of public interest folklore work.

As a consultant, Selina also prioritizes giving back to the field. She is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Folk Arts - Cultural Treasures School (k-8), a position that keeps her connected to best practices in folk arts education and to the impacts of folklorists and community organizers collaborating for public good.  She recently joined the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Selina says “I’m honored to have been invited to advise this international leader in community-centered cultural sustainability.” She is also working with the Local Learning Network as a guest editor for their Journal of Folklore and Education special issue: Teaching for Equity: The Role of Folklore in a Time of Crisis and Opportunity.