Vanessa Sanchez

Vanessa Sanchez is the Director of Education and Yollocalli Arts Reach at the National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA). Vanessa has dedicated her career to enhancing her communities as a civic-focused leader by designing and facilitating numerous arts and activism initiatives. She has collaborated with hundreds of youth, artists, journalists, media producers and civic leaders throughout Chicago garnering national and international recognition. As an arts administrator, program director and mentor, Vanessa has helped build a more diverse, equitable, and vibrant city through arts education for over 15 years. Vanessa holds a BFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago, was an ambassador for the Creative Youth Development Summit, is the Board Vice President for Villapalooza, the Little Village Music Fest, is an artist and collaborator in the Chicago Artists Creating Transformation (ACT) Collective. She has served on the Hive Chicago Advisory Committee, the Little Village Quality of Life Plan, the Pilsen Image Taskforce, the Lakefront Curatorial Committee, and was a part of the 2020 Leadership in Democracy Cohort through the McCormick Foundation.