Dr. Vanessa L. Deane is the founding principal of Pinchina and an urban policy expert whose research praxis is rooted in the political economy of disasters, primarily in small island developing states. She has also worked on major redevelopment projects in the United States, namely in Brooklyn, NY.
Amid accelerating climate change and the increasing frequency of natural hazards worldwide, she is currently exploring the postcolonial adaptive capacity of select Francophone nations facing current and imminent disaster threats. She previously pioneered a comprehensive analysis of Haiti’s ongoing institutional development challenges – leading up to and beyond the 2010 Haiti earthquake – which earned her the 2021-2022 ‘Outstanding Decentralization Paper Award for Latin America and the Caribbean.’
Dr. Deane is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, the only independent verification of an urban planner’s qualifications in the United States. In 2022, Dr. Deane was a Visiting Professor of Urban Planning at Sorbonne Université.
She obtained her Ph.D. in Public and Urban Policy from The New School and her Master of Urban Planning from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. She graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University with a Bachelor of Arts in African and African American Studies and in American Studies, with double minors in Education Studies and in Social Justice and Social Policy.