Vanessa Luna Shannon is the Director for the Gateway to College program at Santa Rosa Junior College’s Petaluma Campus. She is a second generation Mexican-American who was born and raised in the Napa Valley and Oakland, California. Vanessa grew up looking up to her father, aunts, and ...
Read moreVanessa Luna Shannon is the Director for the Gateway to College program at Santa Rosa Junior College’s Petaluma Campus. She is a second generation Mexican-American who was born and raised in the Napa Valley and Oakland, California. Vanessa grew up looking up to her father, aunts, and grandmother, all of whom were hard working, loving and tough people. As a child Vanessa had aspirations of becoming a child psychologist so that she could help children and families, that otherwise wouldn’t have access to culturally sensitive mental health services. As a teenager she began volunteering at an East Oakland elementary school in a neighborhood struggling with poverty and violence. This experience ignited a call to service, and was the beginning of a life-long commitment to public service and education.
Outside of work she participates in several boards, committees and community groups aimed at closing resources & opportunities gaps for young people as well as increasing the number of underrepresented groups into positions of leadership. Her long-term goal is to evolve student services and break down barriers in the education system so that more students can complete their educational goals and develop into community leaders.