This summer, our team has been fortunate to have Vanessa Parnell, Project Coordinator, with us for a summer internship supporting First Nations communities in reaching their goals for stewardship and conservation.

As the Project Coordinator, she works closely with the Director of Stewardship Funding and the Project Review Committee and assists with grant funding administration, including project review and management. Vanessa also supports the team with internal projects, research, and analysis.

“I’m incredibly grateful for the many mentors who have taken time to teach me about my Haida, Tsm’syen, and Nisga’a culture,” says Vanessa. “Every song, story, dance, and ceremony continue to reinforce the importance of reciprocity when it comes to my relationship with our lands and waters. Which is why being part of Coast Funds is a meaningful chapter in my professional journey.”

Vanessa joined Coast Funds as part of a three-month Indigenous Youth Internship Program with the Province of British Columbia. In her time with the program, Vanessa has already gained experience in developing an outreach marketing framework that focuses on Indigenous recruitment efforts at the provincial level. Vanessa is passionate about further strengthening her roots in culture and community.

Vanessa is grateful that she grew up on the unceded ancestral territory of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples, where she currently resides.