About Vanessa
Vanessa Nisperos (she / ellé) is a Firekeeper, land tender, and Water Protector. Professionally, she is a strategist, clinical social worker and trainer centering social justice and trauma healing in her work & life. At the Academy for Community Behavioral Health, Vanessa trains New York City service providers on healing intergenerational trauma and building trauma-informed organizations. Descending from Nahua indigenous people of central Mexico, and Pacific Rim sailors from Northern Luzon in the Philippines, Vanessa’s life and work are informed by Mexica (central Mexico) and Lakota (North American) indigenous spiritual traditions.
She is part of an interdisciplinary research team led by Dr. Anna Ortega-Williams (CUNY Silberman School of Social Work) studying Land Based Healing by examining the experiences of Black and Latino youth working in community gardens and urban farms in NYC. Additionally, she leads Academy course development on racial equity and trauma-informed organizational practices for agencies and community based organizations.
In her prior work as a co-owner of Third Root Community Health Center, the oldest collectively owned holistic health space in NYC, Vanessa worked to increase access to holistic health services for BIPOC, trans, and intergenerational Brooklyn residents.
As a second generation sailor of indigenous ancestry, she works to increase access to watersports and recreational boating for women and girls of color. She is Captain of La Sirena, a 27 ft sailing vessel on the Hudson River, and loves sharing the transformative & healing power of water.
Vanessa provides individual and organizational consultation on racial equity & trauma informed practice and strategy.
Education + Training
- Crisis Response and Emergency Management (2024)
- Indigenous Tools for Living (2021)
- Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (2019)
- Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (2018)
- Mental Health First Aid (2017)
- Masters in Social Work, Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College (2013)
- Bachelors in Sociology, San Jose State University (2003)
- International and National Volunteer Service Training (2002)