Vanessa Monterosa

Senior Associate Partner, Learning Solutions

Dr. Vanessa Monterosa is a Senior Associate Partner on the Learning Solutions team. She brings over 15 years of experience working at the nexus of education, technology, and research that uniquely positions her to build bridges among practitioners, scholars, and entrepreneurs.  

Dr. Monterosa leads external and internal efforts to find, fund, and support educators and innovators developing content and tools that empower Black, Latino, and low-income students. She connects and collaborates with K-12 community leaders and education scholars across the nation to meaningfully inform our investment strategy and approach. Additionally, she leads the selection and diligence process for the Learning Solutions team, which is grounded in principles of equity, reflexivity, and care. 

Prior to joining NewSchools, she served as a district administrator in the Los Angeles Unified School District, where she designed a nationally recognized digital citizenship program, developed high-profile district-wide policies, and built the digital literacy capacity of more than 14,000 educators. She shares lessons learned in her first authored book, “Deepening Digital Citizenship,” published by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Her thought leadership work has been featured across Common Sense Media, Edutopia, EdSurge, Latinos for Education, and other publications.

She holds an Ed.M. in Technology, Innovation, and Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from California State University, Long Beach. Dr. Monterosa is a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, Education Pioneers alum, and a proud first-generation Latina. She loves all things Disneyland, doting on her precious pups (Tumbleweed and Nuxx), and traveling with her husband.