Speaking/Media/Press Kit

Speaking, Media & Press Kit

Sandra Roussel is available for speaking engagements, media interviews, and partnership conversations on the intersection of lived experience, financial literacy, and reentry support. Her work is grounded in seventeen years of direct, daily practice building Fresh Start Housing, and in doctoral research that gives that practice a rigorous framework others can learn from and apply.

Speaking Topics

From Lived Experience to Method How seventeen years of direct practice became a replicable, licensable framework, and what that process reveals about turning hard-won experience into something others can learn from.

Crisis-Time vs. Planning-Time Consciousness A new framework for understanding how people in crisis actually make decisions, and why programs designed around planning-time assumptions often fail the people they’re meant to serve.

Rethinking Financial Literacy for People in Crisis Why observation before goal-setting produces more lasting change than restriction-based budgeting, and what that means for anyone designing financial literacy programming for a vulnerable population.

Each topic can be adapted for keynote, panel, or workshop formats, and tailored to audiences in housing services, reentry work, adult education, or nonprofit leadership.

About Sandra Roussel

Sandra Roussel is a social entrepreneur, educator, and doctoral candidate with over seventeen years of experience building programs that expand real economic opportunity for people facing housing instability. She is the founder and operator of Fresh Start Housing, a self-sustaining transitional housing and financial literacy program, and the developer of A Fresh Start Method, a licensable curriculum bringing that same approach to organizations nationwide.

She is currently completing a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Adult and Community Education, with a cognate in Executive Development and Public Service, at Ball State University, expected 2027. [Full bio and credentials on The Founder page →]

Press Kit

The following materials are available for media, speaking bureaus, and partnership use.

• Headshot (high resolution) — [download link]
• Fresh Start Housing logo files — [download link]
• Short bio (100 words) — [download link]
• Long bio (full credentials) — [download link]
• One-sheet (PDF) — [download link]

Booking & Media Inquiries

For speaking engagements, interviews, or press inquiries, contact:
Sandra Roussel
sandrar@freshstarthousing.com
(765) 277-6986