Vanessa has over 15 years of experience working in social justice movements as a union and community organizer, researcher, freelance journalist, and social justice grantmaker. Prior to leading Groundswell, Vanessa worked for Tides Foundation, where she supported the Colin Higgins Foundation (LGBT youth), the Economic Justice Fund, the Bridging the Economic Divide Initiative, and the Reproductive Justice Initiative. Vanessa currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health and Rights, and East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, and on the steering committee for Bay Area Justice Funders Network. Vanessa has a B.A. in American Ethnic Studies from Smith College and is a graduate of the Center for Third World Organizing's Movement Activist Apprenticeship Program.