About Our Founder

Ella Jefferson-Speed, known to many as "Sista-SoulSurvivor" is the founder and CEO of the Soul Survivor Supportive Living Foundation. She's passionate about helping women veterans in transition who need a safe, supportive community to help them go from surviving to thriving.

A native of California, she enlisted in the Army during her senior year of high school and began serving in the US Army after graduation. During her military service, she primarily worked as a food service specialist and trainer for soldiers working kitchen duty on bases in South Carolina, Hawaii, Germany, and Oklahoma. While she planned to make the military her lifelong career, a medical condition forced her to medically retire after nearly 11 years of service.

In 2001, she purchased a 3,500-square-foot home in Midwest City with the intention of one day opening a group home, though she didn't yet know what group she would serve with that space. It was the beginning of a dream that became a reality 18 years later when she officially started the Soul Survivor Supportive Living Foundation.

As a retired veteran who served in the Army, she knows first-hand the importance of having a supportive community when in transition. Ella views each woman who lives in the community as a sister, regardless of where they have been, where they are going, or the branch where they served. She strives to serve women not only when they are living in the community but also in the months and years that follow.

Ella is a certified peer recovery support specialist and a member of the Midwest City Chamber of Commerce, the Northwest Oklahoma City Chamber, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).