Sally Papso was born in Comox, British Columbia, in 1942. She retired from the public service sector in 2004. She then enrolled in oral history studies at the University of Winnipeg and became a freelance community oral historian. In 2007, she was contracted to develop and complete for archival readiness an oral history project with the Manitoba Provincial Council of Women Inc. She has also completed oral history projects for a number of private families.

Sally holds a B A in Sociology from the University of Winnipeg, and a pre-masters in Educational Psychology from the University of Manitoba. She is presently (2012) doing coursework in the Department of History at the University of Winnipeg, with the possible aim of completing a Master of Arts in History, specializing in oral and community histories.

Prior to becoming an oral historian, Sally worked for 30 years with the Manitoba Provincial government as a professional youth counselor, supervisor and teacher in juvenile corrections. She also operated her own private practice as a feminist counselor for 18 years, working with groups and individuals from a wide and diverse population. Her areas of expertise were primarily specific to domestic violence, sexual assault, and child sexual abuse. She also ran training workshops on these topics, and co-facilitated group sessions with men who batter. In addition, she provided crisis phone counseling, and sexual assault crisis counseling at a crisis centre in Winnipeg.