Vanessa Tucker

Vanessa Tucker was a Program Officer for U.S. Democracy at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation from 2020-2024. She led the foundation’s grantmaking to improve campaigns and elections and to combat digital disinformation.

Prior to joining the foundation, Vanessa served as vice president for research and analysis at Freedom House. In that role, her work included in-depth democracy research, exploring distinct threats to democracy posed by disinformation, 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 degree in international relations from Yale University.