Carolyn Mitchell Dillard is the Community Partnerships Manager in the Division for Community Engagement and Equal Opportunity, and her office is located in the Center for Community Partnerships at UVA.

She joined the UVA family in 2003 and has served in the office of Media Relations & Community Relations. She currently serves as the University’s liaison for community and neighborhood engagement. In this capacity, she is responsible for  Memorial to Enslaved Laborers (MEL) programming and initiatives.

Carolyn is the first female pastor of the historic Zion Hill Baptist Church in Keswick, VA (established 1870), and serves on the Board of the African-American Pastors’ Council of Charlottesville & Vicinity. She has a B.S. from George Mason University, an MBA from National Louis University, an M.Div. from the Samuel Dewitt School of Theology at Virginia Union University and received her doctorate, D.Min., in 2025. Her passion is trauma-informed care for the Black church and community.  She joined Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. in 1984 and is a proud member of the Charlottesville Alumnae Chapter. She is a Wisdom & Wellbeing Team Advocate and is Dare to Lead Trained.