Steffi Price, Coventry HDRC Research Ambassador
Meet Steffi
My background
I don’t have a career in academia, but I do have an academic foundation. I completed an undergraduate degree in Sociology, which gave me a grounding in research, ethics, methodology and thinking critically about impact. While my practical experience at that stage was limited, it shaped how I understand inequality and systems today.â
Most of my working life was spent in hospitality before I moved into the third sector four years ago. Since then, I’ve worked across administration and fundraising and progressed into leadership — building on transferable skills from my first career.â
A consistent thread throughout my journey has been a strong personal commitment to tackling inequality. That’s what led me to work with vulnerable migrants — people who face multiple barriers, structural challenges and persistent assumptions.
Where I work and what I do
I’m the Director at Carriers of Hope in Coventry — a small charity supporting asylum seekers, refugees and other vulnerable migrants with their practical needs.â
We’re a team of around 15 people, so my role is broad. I’m responsible for strategy, operational design, fundraising, communications and partnerships — and, like many leaders in small organisations, I also step into frontline delivery when needed.â
Recently, we’ve been embedding our Pathways to Progression model. This approach focuses not only on helping people meet immediate needs linked to poverty and isolation, but also on supporting them to access the tools, opportunities and networks across the city that enable longer-term stability and brighter futures.â
At the heart of our work is a holistic approach: understanding each person’s situation, identifying the barriers they face, and connecting them with the right people and organisations to help break those down.
The areas that I am researching
As part of this programme, I’m working to embed evidence-based practice into a small voluntary sector organisation that began with just a handful of volunteers 15 years ago.â
This involves building team buy-in, integrating technology such as databases, bringing more lived experience voices into service design and delivery, and strengthening connections with research across the city.â
Our clients encounter barriers in almost every direction — structural, cultural and systemic. Many struggle to navigate services that weren’t designed with their realities in mind.â
I’m particularly interested in research that can influence real change: developing more trauma-informed practice across the city and supporting asylum seekers, refugees and other migrant (ASRAM) communities to access what they need independently — without having to rely so heavily on voluntary sector intervention.