Vanessa Tussey
Co-Founder, Board Vice-Chair
In 2009, Vanessa Tussey was placed at George Washington Carver Elementary School as a Teach For America Corps Member. She stayed beyond her two-year Teach For America commitment, teaching at the school for three years. During her time teaching in this high-needs, high-poverty school, she was selected Teacher of the Year by her peers, with her students enjoying some of the highest learning gains in the district. She led students to achieve outstanding growth and overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Facing a severe budget crisis, she wrote grants and raised money to purchase needed classroom books, supplies, and technology. She worked with Ellen Wiss to bring George Washington Carver its first ever book fair, providing every student with books to read over the summer.
In 2016, Vanessa graduated from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law at the top of her class. While in law school, she served as a Teaching Assistant, teaching a class on the Civil Rights Movement to undergraduate students alongside the President of Ohio State University and the Dean of the law school. Vanessa clerked for the Honorable William P. Dimitrouleas, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida. She is an associate in the Ft. Lauderdale office of Boies Schiller Flexner. She is fiercely passionate about READ USA’s mission and the transformational impact she has seen firsthand.