Born and raised in Colombia, Vanessa is a cultural worker, folkloric dancer, social researcher, and human and environmental rights advocate with over nine years of experience across South Florida and Colombia. Her work is rooted in interculturality, social justice, and cross-state and transnational collaborations.
Vanessa is the co-founder and co-executive director of the Madre Tierra Collective, an immigrant womxn-led initiative created to use arts and culture as tools for social change and healing in South Florida. She is currently leading the re-launching of the collective to build an arts-based infrastructure for immigrant justice by centering the emotional and cultural well-being of those facing deportation, detention, and criminalization.
She also serves as a Language Justice Organizer with the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network. As a folkloric dancer, she formerly performed with Ballet Folclórico Tierra Colombiana and Venus Rising Drum and Dance Ensemble, and is currently a Board Member of Ballet Folclórico Tierra Colombiana.
“I am most excited about connecting with fellow practitioners, arts administrators and cultural workers to exchange experiences and knowledge. When our communities are under attack, ‘we must love and protect each other’, and I look forward to building a community of strategic practice for mutual support, care and collaboration.”
Photo Credit: Val González