Strategic Design

Contact Vanessa

Vanessa Hernandez is a Senior Specialist with the Policy and Outreach team for the California Afterschool Network (CAN). She joined the CAN team in November 2024. Before joining CAN, Vanessa spent 18 years dedicated to youth development, serving in diverse settings including, elementary and alternative high schools, community-based organizations, affordable and public housing, grassroots organizations, and as a consultant supporting afterschool systems of support in California and Washington. Committed to disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline, Vanessa has focused her career on co-creating healing-centered environments that offer young people meaningful choices, opportunities, and the support they need to thrive. As an Earthling, Auntie, Daughter, Friend, and Creator of nurturing spaces, she sees herself as an “ancestor in training,” embracing the sacred role of mentorship with profound commitment.

Devoted to cultivating brave spaces rooted in love, healing, justice, and centered accountability, Vanessa is guided by a lineage of love passed down from her ancestors, mentors, and the youth who have been central to her learning journey as a youth development practitioner.  She believes in the power of play and joy as vital sources that sustain this work, fueling hope and connection in the communities she helps shape. She brings this spirit to the out-of-school-time (OST) field through healing-centered facilitation, relational leadership, youth empowerment, and trauma-shielding practices that seek to transform institutions.

Vanessa is dedicated to holistic wellness across mental, emotional, relational, physical, and spiritual dimensions and strives to live in alignment with these values. Based in Fresno, California, on Yokuts land, she shares her life in the Tower District with her fiancée and two beloved cats. Outside of her work, Vanessa spends time reconnecting with her cultural roots, nurturing a sense of presence in her intimate relationships, and learning to bring more gentleness to herself and others on different paths. She finds solace in reading, connecting to “Plantcestors,” and exploring places where the ocean meets the forest. Vanessa envisions a future where youth and those who journey alongside them flourish in environments built for healing, empowerment, and a deep sense of belonging.