Vanessa is the Associate Director of Communications and Events Management of the NTD Support Center. Previously Vanessa worked at The Carter Center’s Trachoma Control Program, where she coordinated programmatic activities including grant reporting, proposal writing, drafting communication pieces, maintaining a program database, and planning the annual Trachoma Control Program Review meetings. 

She also worked as a researcher for Children in Scotland and a freelance translator for the United Nations. Additionally, Vanessa held several project management and public diplomacy positions with organizations such as the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Aid (AusAID), and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Vanessa holds a Bachelor of Arts from The American University of Paris in international and comparative politics. She also has a graduate diploma from Sorbonne Nouvelle in French Studies as well as a Master of Science from the University of Edinburgh in international development in Africa and Latin America. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Vanessa speaks Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German.