> Vanessa is an inquisitive, curious, quick learner who thrives in environments of perpetual motion.

Vanessa joins Barbary Coast with a myriad of experiences in public affairs, nonprofit and communications. Prior to Barbary Coast, Vanessa worked as an intern at another established public affairs and public relations firm in San Francisco. There, she worked on every task imaginable from pitching stories and monitoring media for clients to climbing impossibly tall shelves to reach for impossibly large files. In late 2006, Vanessa’s strong commitment to education led her to the Oakland Small Schools Foundation, a nonprofit that serves to ensure sustainability and financial viability for schools in the Oakland Unified School District.

In her free time, Vanessa enjoys trying new kinds of food, practicing her halting French and writing for The CulturalConnect, a publication that seeks to bring young professionals, nonprofits and ethnic minorities to the fore. She's still deciding where in the world she wants to live, so if you have any interesting worldly experiences, she'll gladly buy you a drink and hang on your every word.

Born and raised in Malaysia, Vanessa is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in International Political Economy with a minor in Global Poverty and Practice at the University of California, Berkeley.