Vanessa A. Harris, P.E.

President and Founder, Strategy for Access Foundation

Vanessa Harris, PE, is a licensed civil engineer and artist with multiple disabilities.

Harris received an MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign, and a BA in Chemistry from Grinnell College.

During her 46-year engineering career, she won multiple awards in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.

Harris was honored with the Field Foundation/MacArthur Foundation Leader for a New Chicago Awards, is a Legacy TEDx speaker, and was recently appointed to the Board of Commissioners for the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations. She is also on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Human-Centered Design.