For over a decade Sara worked extensively in the charity sector, specialising in international development and gender equity. Most recently, as Director of Think Aloud Consulting, she provides expert fundraising advice to multiple non-profit organisations.
Prior to this, Sara attained a Master of Science (MSc) in Forced Migration at the University of Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre, in addition to her MA and BA Hons in Theology and Religious Studies from the University of Cambridge.
In 2021, Sara became a Doctoral Researcher at Loughborough University with a fully-funded Studentship. Her Ph.D. is part of the Harnessing Opportunities for Meaningful Environments (HOME) Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT), a transdisciplinary cohort of seven Doctoral Researchers rethinking home and homelessness through creative methods.
In addition to her research, Sara also hosts The Meaning of Home Podcast, discussing concepts of home and homelessness with expert guests.
Sara is conducting research in London (UK) to investigate the complexities that shape women’s experiences of homelessness, aiming to inform the design of support services for women through their narratives of lived experience.
Her research uses qualitative multi-methods, including semi-structured interviews, Photovoice and photo elicitation interviews. The Photovoice study examines the barriers and supports women experience to reveal rich narratives about their interpretations of the meaning of home(lessness). Through this method, Sara's research supports the self-expression of participants by creatively identifying their experiences and presenting them through photographs.
Research about marginalised women can present them solely as victims. There is a need, however, to move beyond the violence, and thus Sara's work is focused on the women’s strengths and hopes for the future. Taking a feminist participatory approach, her research aims to co-construct a body of knowledge that centres participants as experts by experience.
Sara's work is particularly informed by post-colonial, post-structural, interpretive feminist theory, using participatory research methodology and developed with trauma-informed practices.
Supervisors: Professor Rebecca Cain, Professor Ksenia Chmutina, Dr Ksenija Kuzmina.