Over the past 20+ years, Silvia has been involved in the practice and research of community capacity development. Silvia originally began her career working in community-based non-profits, focusing on personal and social advocacy, primarily on issues affecting women struggling with poverty. Seeking ways to be more effective, she completed a Master’s in Policy and Practice at UVic, where she supported three university-community partnerships with two First Nations and a tribal association. Silvia’s thesis was based on an action research project gathering insights on the experiences of GLBTTQ and self-identified heterosexual people at the University of Victoria. From there, she went on to study social planning through UBC’s School of Community and Regional Planning. Since then, Silvia has continued to explore change through community engagement projects. She is now very pleased to be at Auburn University, working as a research specialist with Extension in a tenure-track position within the Department of Human Development and Family Studies.