About Vanessa
Vanessa is a New York City-born and based blogger, activist, speaker and strategist. She is one of the founders of the award-winning online feminist publication, Feministing.com, which she co-founded with Jessica Valenti in 2004.
Vanessa is also an online strategist for organizations and initiatives working towards social change, using her passion and experience in movement-building through Valenti Martin Media, a communications firm she founded with Feministing editor emerita Courtney Martin.
For over a decade, Vanessa has been active doing off- and online work for social justice organizations and initiatives. Current and past clients and collaborators include TEDxWomen, UN Women, The Clinton Global Initiative,
Population Action International, Girls for Gender Equity, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the National Institute for Reproductive Health.
She is also a co-founder of The Real Hot 100, a media project challenging negative representations of women in the media and celebrating 100 young women in the country creating change.
Currently, Vanessa is working on an impact paper on the future of the online feminist movement with Martin and the Barnard Center for Research on Women.
She resides in Queens, NY with her partner and their two loving and overwhelmingly hyper cats.