Vanessa Tucker joined the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation staff in June 2024 and serves as senior program officer for Democracy. In this role, Vanessa plays a key role in executing the foundation’s inaugural Democracy strategy.

Vanessa previously served as a Program Officer on the democracy team at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. She led the foundation’s grantmaking to improve campaigns and elections, prevent political violence and combat digital disinformation.

Before that, Vanessa served as vice president for research and analysis at Freedom House. In that role, her work included in-depth democracy research and collaborating with a network of ideologically diverse organizations and experts. She previously held positions at the Belfer Center and the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School.

Vanessa’s family roots are in Oklahoma, where she is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She grew up in Texas and the United Arab Emirates. She earned her bachelor’s degree in international development at McGill University and holds a master’s in international relations from Yale University.