Vanessa is Diné who grew up on her reservation. She is a sister, mother, daughter, and partner. These roles shape her every day. In 2016, she and her partner launched an Indigenous-led social enterprise, Roanhorse Consulting, LLC. Today, Roanhorse Consulting co-designs wealth and power-building efforts that directly invest in our leaders, support meaningful data collection informed by Indigenous research approaches, and help build thoughtful community-led projects that enforce values that put people at the center. Vanessa got her management chops working for 7 years at a Chicago-based nonprofit, the Delta Institute, focused throughout the Great Lakes region to build a resilient environment and economy through creative, sustainable, market-driven solutions. Vanessa oversaw many of Delta’s on-the-ground energy efficiency, green infrastructure, community engagement programs, and workforce development training.

She sits on the boards of Delta Institute, Seven Fires Community, Potlikker Capital and is a governing board member of the Just Transition Integrated Capital Fund. She is an advisor to the Ecosystem Building Leadership Network, Decolonizing Wealth, and Sandia Lab’s Department of Energy's BOOST initiative. Vanessa is a 2024 Impact Finance Center’s Whose Who in Impact Investing Awardee, 2022 Miss Porter’s School Donaldson Awardee, a 2021 Paypal Maggie Lena Walker’s Emerging Leader Awardee, and a 2020 Conscious Company Media’s World Changing Woman in Sustainable Business Awardee. Vanessa is the founder of Roanhorse Consulting, a founding member of Zebras Unite, a co-founder of Native Women Lead, and a co-founder of the Rematriating Economies Apprenticeship. She is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and resides in unceded Tiwa territory with her partner and 10-year-old son.