What Vanessa does at the Foundation:

As Senior Vice President of Civic Engagement, Vanessa convenes a coalition of community organizations, business leaders, institutions of higher education, and government entities to help create a better ecosystem for civic engagement across our region. She also leads the Civic Engagement team in creating opportunities for people to learn about and engage with the Greater Richmond community, empowering individuals to give back with their time and voice in ways that feel meaningful and generate the most impact.

Vanessa’s lifelong passion has been helping youth and adults engage by finding individual solutions to critical community issues. Vanessa was a co-founder and director of HandsOn Greater Richmond, our region’s volunteer center which merged with the Community Foundation in 2018 to help form the Civic Engagement team. She loves to see the “aha!” moment when a person identifies a need in the community and realizes they have the right resource to help.

When Vanessa’s not working:

She loves biking, hiking and exploring with her two daughters and husband, and enjoys the community and vibrancy of her Northside neighborhood. She also listens to as many podcasts as she can get her hands on.

• Year Vanessa joined the Foundation: 2018
• Loves riding her bike on the Capital Trail
• Favorite place: on the porch with a good book
• When volunteering, she loves to laminate things!