Vanessa Bennett is a director at the Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning. She leads initiatives that advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility within apprenticeship and improve access to economic advancement through pre-apprenticeship and work-based learning and inclusive program design. Before joining JFF, Vanessa was the senior manager of career pathways at YouthBuild USA. In that role, she led national service initiatives, provided technical assistance to local programs implementing pre-apprenticeship training, and informed policy efforts to drive equity and access to work and education for young adultsages 16-24. Before that, she provided direct service programming for youth in rural New Hampshire.