The Selection Process, authored by the GTCRP Local Task Force and National Advisory Committee, outlines a multi-tiered, democratic, and community-wide process for nominating, selecting and impaneling the Commission. In May 2003, the GTCRP issued a call to the entire Greensboro community for commissioner nominations and invited seventeen organizations and sectors of the community to each appoint one person to the Selection Panel. Fourteen organizations made appointments, and in February 2004, the Selection Panel began its task of selecting seven commissioners from among the pool of sixty-seven nominations submitted by Greensboro residents.

The Panel was chaired by Mayor Keith Holliday's appointee, District Court Judge Lawrence McSwain, and operated completely independently of the Project or any other entity. The Panel made its final selections in May 2004, and the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission was sworn in on June 12, 2004, with over 500 supporters in attendance. Congressman Mel Watt, Judge Lawrence McSwain, and former Greensboro Mayor Carolyn Allen presided over the ceremonies.