Vanessa’s organisation works as a consultancy to engage millennial women with FTSE 100 businesses in technology, financial services and law. Her senior management team is led by women of colour and they have structured internship schemes targeted at young women of colour. Vanessa set up the first pan-industry technology mentoring scheme, the award-winning Step into STEM, funded by O2, BT, Vodafone and Ericsson, which gives female students who study STEM subjects a mentor to support their career aspirations and to address the under-representation of women working in the STEM sector. They target women who are from Black, Asian or ethnic-minorities and in particular Black female students. She is currently working with Facebook on initiatives to attract black female students. Externally, Vanessa has been working with the UK Parliament to lead the delivery and strategy for the Speakers Parliamentary Placement Scheme, which gives 13 people of colour and those from under-represented backgrounds a 9 month paid internship with a Member of Parliament to increase the number of ethnic minority MPs and staff. She has also connected the scheme with corporate clients to host workplace visits to showcase other private sector opportunities. She is developing a residential programme and on Parliament initiatives to ensure that it is accessible for people with disabilities.