Vanessa is C40’s Grants and Subgrants Manager, responsible for managing a strategic grant portfolio and closely supporting our Brazil Multilevel Implementation Programme, CHAMP.
With over a decade of international experience in programme and project management, multilateral partnerships, and cross-cultural leadership, she has built bridges between the public, private, and third sectors to advance and scale the Science, Innovation, and Sustainable Development agendas. She has secured and managed multimillion-dollar funding and led multisectoral projects in the fields of climate science, mobility, smart cities, health, and international development/human rights.
Before joining C40, Vanessa worked for UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the British Council, and as General Manager of SAFEWATER, a consortium of renowned funders, governments, universities, and INGOs based in Europe, the Americas, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia, created to support the United Nations in addressing WASH challenges.
Vanessa holds an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA), two professional certificates in Paradiplomacy and Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development, and a BSc (Hons) in International Relations.
Originally from Brazil, Vanessa has lived for several years in the UK and Switzerland. In her spare time, she has (in her own words, quite randomly) conceived and co-produced a documentary on Brazil–Haiti military interventions and, despite her height, represented Northern Ireland in the Beach Volleyball Olympic qualifiers.