Vanessa Daniel

Vanessa is a queer, mixed race, mother, writer and organizer. She is the founder and served for 17 years as Executive Director of Groundswell Fund, the largest funder of the U.S. reproductive justice movement. Under her leadership, Groundswell moved over $100M to the field, centering intersectional grassroots organizing led by women of color, particularly those who are Black, Indigenous, and Transgender. Vanessa is the recipient of the 2012 Gerbode Foundation Fellowship and the 2017 National Network of Abortion Funds’ Abortion Action Vanguard Award. At Mesa Refuge, she worked on a book on women of color leaders in social justice movements and how they have successfully navigated intense dynamics as they strive to lead.