Selma has dedicated her life to blazing trails and making things happen. She has served as a pediatric social worker, led various roles within the publishing sector, and is an accomplished author. In addition, she is a devoted community member with a specialized dedication to children and women.
Selma started her career path with Mid-East Community Action Agency. As a social worker, she utilized her extensive training to provide case management to underserved children, as well as provide educational support for their mothers. In addition, Selma developed and executed intervention plans for abused and neglected children.
She later served as President of B&H Publishing Group, the trade-publishing arm of LifeWay Christian Resources. During her four-year tenure, B&H experienced year over year growth, won many industry awards, including Spanish Publisher of the Year for three consecutive years, gained in market positioning, and broke records for New York times best-sellers. She also led in the launch of B&H Kids, now a market leader for children’s resources.
For the next 28 years, Selma led a variety of roles at LifeWay Christian Resources, the largest Christian resource organization in the world. She served in various positions including Editor-in-Chief of HomeLife and Journey magazines and Director of Discipleship of Family Magazines. She was on the original team that launched LifeWay Women’s resources in 1994. In addition, Selma served on the executive leadership team for eight years as the first woman in LifeWay’s history to serve as a senior executive vice-president. In February 2015, she was named Chief People Officer and Senior Vice President of Organizational Development, leading the people strategy for the 5,000 employees of LifeWay.
Selma has worked with many top authors, including Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, Lisa Harper, Kelly Minter, Stephen and Alex Kendrick, Thom Rainer, and Gary Chapman.
Since her recent retirement, Selma continues to serve her community as an executive consultant to Fortune 500 companies, a mentor to women, and as a board member to SMART® FAITHworks.
She has been married to Rodney Wilson for 46 years and has served with him in various ministry roles, including marriage and family ministry. Rodney and Selma have authored two books, Extraordinary Marriage and The Parent Adventure. Currently, they are enjoying retirement together. Selma has two adult daughters, two sons-in-law, and is grandmother to Josiah, Abby, Caleb, Emmy, and Judah.
Selma earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with continued education at the University of Southern California and Columbia University in New York.