Vanessa has an interdisciplinary background in Anthropology, Sociology and Development Studies, completing her studies at Durham University and the Institute of Development Studies at University of Sussex.
As an anti-colonial scholar and advocate, Vanessa’s research background has focussed on decolonisation, Indigenous rights, and well-being - particularly in context with Māori and First Nations peoples in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and (what is currently referred to as) Canada. She is interested in challenging and responding to the social conditions in which harm occurs - namely systemic and structural inequities that result from ongoing colonial legacies. To that end, she is keen to explore transformative and contextual approaches to social justice; working towards ways we can disrupt, dismantle and rebuild these systems.
Vanessa has been on the Contextual Safeguarding Programme team since September 2019, working on a variety of projects, including the Scale Up project, with statutory child-protection services, schools, the VCS and youth justice. All of these projects aimed to understand and support the individual, contextual, structural and legal scaffolds required to ethically implement and sustain a Contextual Safeguarding approach.
Vanessa is currently undertaking her PhD fieldwork in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Bringing together her research background and work with Contextual Safeguarding, her PhD seeks to understand the colonial nature of the child protection system (i.e. British welfare design); and what ‘decolonising’ child protection can and should look like by learning from a Māori health and well-being organisation currently transforming this space. This is a participatory action research project guided by Kaupapa Māori philosophies, and Vanessa looks forward to sharing these learnings. Looking outside and beyond our existing frames, Vanessa is interested in showcasing how disruptive design of services can be beneficial for everyone.