Vira Salzburn

Resilient Coastal Georgia

Supporting: Bryan, Chatham, Effingham

Vira Salzburn is a Ukrainian-American living in Savannah, Georgia and serving her beloved community as the Executive Director of Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council. She earned a Master of Science degree in Management, Organizational Behavior & Leadership from Troy University, and a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree in Humanities from Auburn University at Montgomery. Vira also holds a graduate certificate in Topics in Human Behavior from Harvard University.

Driven by her passion to improve the well-being of Savannah-Chatham residents, Vira spearheads innovative community-wide Safety and Resilience programming and serves on the leadership team of Resilient Coastal Georgia.

Vira is the developer of a community-based upstream suicide prevention approach that utilizes evidence-based Mindful-Self Compassion programming. She is a community educator and public speaker on suicide prevention, trauma-informed practices, self-compassion, and resilience, and she was the presenter at TEDx Savannah in 2022. Additionally, Vira is the recipient of the 2023 Community Impact Award from Georgians for a Healthy Future for her efforts to expand mental health prevention and intervention programs and supports across Georgia.

Vira is committed to creating compassionate, resilient, and sustainable communities by empowering individuals and organizations with the knowledge and skills essential for reaching their full potential.