Before Nesta, Vanessa worked as EDI manager at the Francis Crick Institute, where she developed and implemented the Crick’s inclusion strategy. She also focused on stakeholder engagement, establishing the Crick’s first EDI governance structure and engaging with employee resource groups to promote representation and accountability at all levels.

Vanessa studied law at Queen Mary University of London and developed a keen interest in feminist legal theory and expansive judicial approaches to human rights protection. In 2017, she published her thesis in the University of Kent’s feminists@law journal.

Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, making music and the art of film.