Vice President, Strategy & Communications

Vanessa Merina leads enterprise strategy at KQED. She oversees strategic planning and initiatives, internal/external communications, education, and partnerships, helping align teams across content, audience, product and revenue to drive clarity, collaboration, and mission impact.

Since joining KQED in 2021, Vanessa has developed the organization’s three-year strategic roadmap, built performance and governance systems, and guided cross-functional initiatives that shape how KQED serves the Bay Area. She brings a pragmatic, people-centered approach to strategy, balancing long-term vision with operational execution.

Prior to her current role, she was Vice President of Brand and Audience at KQED, leading marketing, communications, audience development and creative and overseeing KQED’s three-year Latinx initiative to better serve and reflect Latinx communities. Before KQED, Vanessa spent eight years at Stanford Health Care, where she led marketing, communications and organizational change during major system implementations and the COVID-19 response. She also served as publications lead for six years at the Public Policy Institute of California. She is a former leadership coach and co-founder of an international nonprofit focused on cross-cultural engagement.

Vanessa holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a BA in French & Creative Writing from Bennington College.