Vanessa is the research director for IFTF's Future 50 Partnership, a network of future-smart organizations that support strategic foresight research into the urgent futures that will shape the next decade across the business, social and civic spheres. Her research and foresight work delivers and scales real-world impact with a focus on health and healthcare, equity and technology.
Prior to Institute for the Future, Vanessa worked in a variety of roles at the intersection of inclusive design, innovation and health, advancing product and business strategy for technology that advances health equity and programs and strategies that foster entrepreneurship among underrepresented populations.
She is a frequent speaker and has been recognized as a 2018 Aspen Ideas Festival Spotlight Health Scholar, 40 Under 40 Tech Diversity Silicon Valley, 2016 New Leaders Council San Francisco Fellow, 200 Black Women in Tech to Follow on Twitter and as a 2016 TEDMED Research Scholar. Vanessa earned her BA in psychology from Yale University and her MPH in global health from Columbia University