Vanessa Gutierrez is a Program Officer for the AmeriCorps Texas team at OneStar, supporting a portfolio of AmeriCorps grantees. Vanessa is a native Texan from San Antonio and is joining OneStar as a two-time AmeriCorps alum serving with programs specializing in early childhood literacy and housing access for unhoused folks in the city of Austin. Vanessa’s early passion for serving her local community led her to explore a year-long social work-based mentorship with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. That experience catalyzed Vanessa into a diverse career in direct client service in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. In addition to her recent work in the local tech industry, she worked as a Program Assistant at Amara in the state of Washington supporting their foster to adopt program and provided supportive case management services as a BSS+ Case Manager with Front Steps at the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless. Vanessa holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Spanish from Seattle University. When she isn’t working, Vanessa enjoys traveling, spending time with friends and family, listening to live music, attending Austin FC games, and being a cat mom to Manu.
