Vanessa is a recent Chicago transplant, born in Wisconsin and hailing from Minneapolis/St. Paul where she earned her BA in English and Gender, Women, and Sexuality studies at the U of M. She joined Beam Legal Team in early 2018 after completing her MFA in Poetry at Columbia College Chicago. She is grateful to have found a team so full of intelligence, empathy, and understanding. Though this is her first law firm experience, she previously worked at Partnership Resources, a day program for adults with developmental disabilities; a wonderful non-profit, it heightened her sensitivity and drive to extend a hand to others whenever possible. Her free time consists of cat memes, admiring flowers, playing piano, and, of course, writing poetry.