Sydney Sansbury

Collegiate Learning Specialist

Sydney Sansbury started at Focus Collegiate as Graduate Intern on our Summer Cohort team. She is now a full-time Collegiate Learning Specialist. Sydney comes to us from Boston College, where she received her Master’s in Higher Education Administration. She has a passion for student development and brings a compassionate, student-centered approach to her work, viewing education as a holistic journey that encompasses not just academics, but also personal growth, identity, and wellness. In her work with students, she creates welcoming, affirming safe spaces where people feel heard and empowered.

Driven by compassion and the transformative power of mentorship, Sydney believes that students already hold the key to their own success. “They have their own… greatness. I want to help them find their agency to grow their skills and be successful in college,” she says. “I had great success in college because I had amazing support systems: professors, mentors, coaches, my orientation director…” she says. “I want to provide that same guidance and encouragement to others.” In her work with students, Sydney blends structure with joy and a bit of fun.

Sydney has worked as a teaching assistant in France and served as a peer wellness coach at Boston College. These experiences, combined with her background in orientation leadership (for students and parents) and DEI programming at Soka University of America, shape her understanding of how connection and community foster confidence and resilience. Her undergraduate thesis explored student agency during the COVID-19 pandemic—a theme that continues to influence her belief in the importance of student voice and autonomy in the learning process.

She also has a B.A. with a Concentration in Education from Soka, where she captained the women’s swim team and chaired of the DEI Initiative for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She is also a certified Teacher of English as a Foreign Language and an excellent baker of French desserts.