What if the answer is community?

One woman's journey to rethink homelessness, build and scale Salt + Light and create a place where people belong.

Join us as Fresno State alumna Adrianne Hillman, founder and chief executive officer of Salt + Light Works, shares her journey pioneering The Neighborhood Village and how rethinking homelessness through dignity, belonging, purpose and human connection can transform lives and communities.

Adrianne’s journey shows students that success is rarely a straight line. Her story of fear, reinvention, risk-taking and ultimately finding purpose is both relatable and inspiring.

Three key takeaways for students:

Finding Your Passion: How understanding who you really are will lead you to a life of true purpose.

Do It Afraid: Learning to utilize fear as the raw material for cultivating courage and using it to build something for which there is no roadmap.

It's All About Relationship: How fostering meaningful relationships and human connection can transform your life and shape your future.

Adrianne Hillman is the founder and chief executive officer of Salt + Light Works, a Central Valley nonprofit cultivating belonging and community alongside people who have experienced homelessness. Raised on a century-old dairy farm in Tipton, Adrianne is part of a multigenerational Portuguese American dairy family deeply rooted in the Central Valley.

Since founding Salt + Light in 2019, she has helped pioneer The Neighborhood Village in Goshen, a first-of-its-kind rural permanent supportive housing community where neighbors are not merely housed, but known, valued and connected to purpose. Her work challenges conventional responses to homelessness by placing dignity, radical hospitality, meaningful accountability and human connection at the center of lasting change. A proud Fresno State alumna and member of the Fresno State Portuguese Leadership Council, Adrianne is also a recipient of the 2026 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award.

We hope to see you there!

If you’ve attended our luncheons before, you already know these conversations are real, practical and inspiring.

If you haven’t attended yet, this is the one to come to.

Date: Thursday, Sept. 17
Time: 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Location: Lynda and Stewart Resnick Student Union
Register: Here

For more information, please visit mailchi.mp/lylescenter/pif-september2026 or email tibaker@csufresno.edu