Vanessa Meier 

Director of Grants Management and Evaluation

Vanessa Meier believes everyone deserves a chance to be as healthy as they can be—that’s why she is committed to addressing the inequities that impact the health of marginalized communities. With a background in research science, she brings a unique lens to her work as director of grants management and evaluation—Meier finds the abstract thinking and creative problem solving she learned from her geology background equally applicable to philanthropy. 

Meier enjoys the creative and solution-driven thinking of innovative work. Her enthusiasm is paired with 12 years of experience in grants management at Patagonia and California Community Foundation. She is also a long-time volunteer with the California Department of Corrections Lancaster Prison. This experience taught her that hope and love can be found in the most unlikely places and that positive change is possible through commitment. 

Born in Los Angeles, Meier earned her bachelor’s in geology from the University of California Los Angeles and her master’s in geology from the University of New Mexico.