VANESSA SAUNDERS - Graduate! Philadelphia

VANESSA SAUNDERS

Program Specialist

Vanessa Saunders is a Program Specialist at Graduate Philadelphia. She is an educator with over 15 years of providing creative and productive learning experiences for adult learners. Her work at Graduate Philadelphia includes designing, implementing and managing programs to engage learners and help them achieve their education and career goals. She also works directly with learners to help them identify the right school or program, figure out how to pay for their education and achieve academic success when they begin their chosen learning path. Vanessa enjoys identifying resources to support learner achievement and success through interactions with higher education institutions, workforce development agencies, employers and community-based organizations.

Vanessa has been passionate about education since high school when she started her teaching career as a tutor. She has taught in urban and suburban school districts. Her first experience with adult learners occurred at Philadelphia OIC where she taught adult basic education and GED classes. Vanessa is dedicated to helping anyone who wants to learn. She was able to help nontraditional students access higher education and succeed in their academic programs through her work as an Outreach Counselor role at University of Pennsylvania’s Educational Opportunity Center. Vanessa worked in the nonprofit sector as a Learning and Development Specialist with Law School Admission Council. She was responsible for curriculum development, onsite and online training programs for an admissions database and consulting for law schools in the Midwest. She has served on the board of directors of the University of Pennsylvania’s Association of Alumnae.

Vanessa received her B.A. in English and M.S. in Education from the University of Pennsylvania.