Vanessa De La Rosa (she/her)

Vanessa De La Rosa began her public service career in 2014, where she worked as a Community Planner for the City of Los Angeles Promise Zone through the AmeriCorps VISTA program. Following this experience, her efforts focused on enhancing bicycle, pedestrian, and transit policy, planning, and design. Her transportation-focused work began in 2016, when she moved to San Diego to join the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) as a Transportation Planner, and has since devoted her career to building sustainable transportation systems. While at Caltrans, Vanessa discovered a passion for civil engineering in addition to her transportation planning and policy interests, so she returned to school and  earned a Masters of Science degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California Davis.

Post graduation, Vanessa rejoined Caltrans in 2023 as a Transportation Engineer and continues to advocate for sustainable transportation systems that are accessible for people of all ages and abilities.

Since moving from Los Angeles to San Diego, Vanessa has fallen in love with San Diego County and is proud to serve the community through her work. She hopes to create meaningful change in the region by helping to increase investments in public transportation and supporting planning and policy efforts to prepare people and the built environment for climate change impacts.

In her spare time, Vanessa enjoys playing chess, practicing playing piano, hiking, playing soccer, exercising, and riding her bike around the city.