Oakland Unified School District- School Improvement Partner

Vanessa serves as a School Improvement Partner for the Oakland Unified School District, where she supports and coaches high school principals, assistant principals, and teacher-leaders on leadership, teacher development, and systems improvement. Prior to this work, Vanessa served as Managing Director of Teach For America – Oakland, where she was part of a team tasked with revamping the coaching systems for over 100 first and second-year corps members. Vanessa developed her passion for supporting teachers and school leaders after serving as the founding principal of ACE Charter and principal for Leadership Public Schools, both in her hometown of San Jose. Before her work in school leadership, Vanessa spent one year as a resident principal for Aspire Public Schools learning from exemplary school leaders, and four years teaching middle school Humanities in the Sobrante Park neighborhood of East Oakland. Vanessa holds BA in Political Science and Chicano Studies from UCLA and a MA in education from UC Berkeley.