As Free Press’s News Voices NJ Manager, Vanessa works to center communities’ information needs in New Jersey. She is a community organizer, educator and producer whose journey in media justice started as part of the movement to expand community radio. As the community radio director at the Prometheus Radio Project, she worked to pass the Local Community Radio Act, helped build dozens of Low Power FM radio stations across the United States and worked to promote Net Neutrality. She co-founded PhillyCAM’s community-radio station, WPPM-LP FM, where she served as the station manager prior to joining Free Press. Vanessa serves on the board of directors of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and on the board of the community-radio nonprofit Common Frequency. She is also the host and producer of several radio and TV shows about social-justice issues and local activism.