Interview With Dr. Sandra Braham

Hello Dr. Sandra, please tell us a little about yourself.

I am a sought-after mentor and successful, award-winning business leader and strategist, known for having transformed all organizations and their various divisions where I have worked. I am a national trainer and speaker, and I am led by my Christian faith and have learned to listen to God's call and directives formy life. I am a wife and mother, and a grandmother. When I published my memoir, it was the culmination of 15 years of research and writing. I am an avid, but novice golfer and I love to sing.

Where are you from, and where do you live?

I am a native of St. Louis, Missouri, spent several years in Indiana and 25 years living in west Texas prior to moving to Clearwater, Forida where I have resided for10.5 years.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Golfing and singing. I also love to travel with my husband, family and close friends but value the time I spend when it is just me and my husband. We have always made certain to dedicate time to our marriage, even when our children were babies.

Can you share your journey and how you got to where you are today?

I began studying biology with a desire to attend medical school. During my junior year of college, I decided to complete that degree and pursue an MBA whichI fell short of completing by about 17 credits. I worked throughout college and discovered a passion for assisting with student recruitment and enrollmentinitiatives. This led to my first career opportunity in higher education where I became a college recruiter. After relocating to west Texas, I began leading a program to help low-income, first-generation college bound students to access and enroll in college. Through this, I discovered a talent for grant writing and began building new pre-college access programs, eventually rising to the rank of associate vice provost for undergraduate studies. After 17 years in highereducation, I have a vision moment where God showed me a career position that I would eventually assume three years later, and I shifted from leading in higher education to leading in the nonprofit sector. A decade later, a recruiting firm led me to my current position.I have always been heavily involved in business and social services, so voluntarily leading civic business organizations like chambers of commerce, service clubsand other social organizations helped me to build a significant network of business colleagues and young professional mentees.

If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

Resilient, Confident, Humble.

Share something our readers might not know about you.

I made it to the final 100 of 10,000 contestants nationally in a national screen test competition and made a movie screentest. I have always loved performing but did not pursue is personally as I had no support having spent time in foster care.

How did you get started in writing?

I have always loved communications and writing and consistently made A's in the classes in secondary school and college. On my 17th birthday, I had an epiphany that I was to write a story about my life and made the commitment then and there that I would do so after living a bit longer. I discovered a talent for grant-writing and realized the value of pen and paper in changing lives for the better. Pursuing the doctorate degree forced me to hone my writing even more.

Tell us about your latest book or current work.

An Angel for Detroit is an incredible true story of growing up with a large extended family who all worked to keep my mother safe with her three daughters. My mother suffered from schizophrenia and the book highlights this journey of being raised by a single parent with mental illness, and the many twists and turns our lives took. It also highlights the power of faith and mysteries that go back generations, to impact lives today. It also highlights life in foster care, marriage, divorce and how God's grace continued to open doors to an incredible life. The audio book has just been completed and is available on Audible and Amazon.

What inspired your book, and what is the story behind it?

My life of growing up with mental illness and surviving foster care became the basis of a vision I had on my 17th birthday, the day I walked away from my foster home. I believed that my story would make a positive difference and provide hope to all who are experiencing similar challenges. Behind the story in the underlying grace God will show and provide when one leans into Him.

How have your personal experiences shaped the stories you write?

My husband says the title of my book should have been, "It Makes No Sense" because every time I share stories of my life, well beyond the book, I say that it makes no sense. I dream very vivid dreams, some of which I share in An Angel for Detroit, and those dreams have led me to make significant decisions when facing challenging circumstances. My stories offer hope as my life has been short of remarkable, despite the many troubles and trials I had to face. 14. What do you hope readers will carry with them after finishing your book? Hope is a must. Do not give up, but put your faith in God's power and believe that you can do and achieve anything with the right heart and mind.

Are you working on any new projects you would like to share?

I am working to build my brand for a new podcast, "Voices of Impact with Dr. Sandra Braham" that is streaming on Redhouse Streaming Television (RHsTV). At Voices of Impact, we focus on good people doing great things. It is a positive and informative program that also affords the opportunity to introduce many of the programs I oversee, programs that uplift the lives of people, babies to seniors.

Dr. Sandra Braham, Ed.D., is an award-winning nonprofit executive, educator, speaker, and author of *An Angel for Detroit*. As President and CEO of Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services, she leads an organization providing essential services to individuals, families, and communities throughout Florida.

Named a Tampa Bay Titan 100 honoree in 2025 and 2026, Sandra has received numerous distinctions, including the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies’ Professional Leadership Award (2024), the Woodson Museum’s First Lady of African American History honor (2023), and the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Businesswoman of the Year recognition (2018). Sandra holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Administration from the University of Texas at El Paso and previously led the YWCA El Paso del Norte Region. She also became the first African American woman to chair the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce Board.

In her memoir, *An Angel for Detroit*, she shares her journey through adversity, foster care, faith, and achievement. Find out more on Linkedin.

Interview published in The Relatable Voice Magazine - November 2026.

Download the full magazine for free at The RV Book Fair | Relatable Media.