Vanessa Bramante

Vanessa joined MPC’s Housing team as a Research Assistant in April 2025. She currently works as a Policy Evaluation Specialist for Empowerment Through Education, LLC (ETE) where she conducts research to support higher education institutions in evaluating the performance of federal education grants and develops strategies for improving the implementation of grant activities and funds. Vanessa has a Master of Arts (MA) in Global Thought from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Political Science from Salem State University.

Before joining MPC, Vanessa was a Research Associate at Root Policy Research where she worked on affordable housing policy, access to opportunity analyses and equity plans, and analyzed trends in homelessness and poverty at the county and state levels. With a passion for removing barriers to fair housing, Vanessa supported the development of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Fair Housing Toolkit for landlords and property managers in 2023 and worked with jurisdictions across California to complete their Housing Elements to comply with AFFH state law. More recently, Vanessa worked with the State of New Mexico to create the Supportive Housing Strategic Plan which identifies and develops a plan for addressing the statewide shortage of affordable housing and for expanding access to supportive services for persons experiencing homelessness (including those with disabilities). She brings these diverse experiences, perspectives, and passions to her role and work at MPC.

Originally from Boston, Vanessa is new to Chicago and lives in the River North area. You can find her exploring coffee shops/thrift stores, trying a new workout class, or cuddling with her cat: Zara. She loves sharks and has more plants than she knows what to do with.