WILLIAMSTOWN, MA, December 16, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Vanessa Wassenar has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
For more than 40 years, Ms. Wassenar has dedicated her career to helping schools and nonprofits adapt to changes in finances, leadership and direction. Since 2001, she has excelled as the chief executive officer of Creating Resilient Schools, an independent consultancy that specializes in guidance for organizations in transition, focusing on turnaround efforts in schools with attendance and financial problems, loss of accreditation and crisis management needs. A graduate of the Ellis School, Ms. Wassenar earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and interdisciplinary social sciences from Macalester College, and completed postgraduate coursework at Yale University, Harvard University, and the University of California San Diego throughout her career.
After her collegiate studies, Ms. Wassenar briefly served as an assistant curator of Asian art for a museum in Minnesota before relocating to San Diego to work at a law firm. Quickly realizing that her interests were elsewhere, she parted ways with the aforementioned firm, initiating a "series of coincidences" that led her initially to a clerical position at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego. Ms. Wassenar would remain active with the Institution of Oceanography and the University main campus from 1975 until 1994, rising to the post of director, a position that would set the stage for her later work in educational administration.
Through the late 1990s, Ms. Wassenar found success as the director of advancement and business services at Pine Cobble School and the assistant to the President of Bennington College. She was appointed as the director of resource management and strategic planning for the Emma Willard School in 2003, and held chief operating officer and chief financial officer roles at both the Archer School for Girls and the Bentley School over the next decade. Her consultancy has grown to include over 60 independent schools and nonprofits of varying sizes around the country and in the UK. A current executive committee member of the Berkshire County Educational Task Force and trustee of the TREE Foundation in Sarasota, Florida, Ms. Wassenar has consulted for nonprofits including the Boys' Club of New York, Oliver Scholars, churches and museums as well.
Ms. Wassenar's work in school administration and leadership is marked by bold cultural changes and the fearless modernization of budgetary and program concerns. She has redirected more than $100 million from a variety of sources – philanthropies, government agencies, national and international programs – to student enrichment and experiential learning programs, and considers it her purpose to re-energize, stabilize and occasionally refocus the schools with which she works. As a member of the National Association of Independent Schools and the National Business Officers Association, she has further flourished as an invited speaker to the Society of College and University Planners, the National Association of College and University Business Officers and the NAIS. Ms. Wassenar credits her success to her education, determination, sense of adventure, and the influence of her parents, and plans to remain in practice for as long as she possibly can.
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Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis® now publishes many Who's Who titles, including Who's Who in America®, Who's Who in the World®, Who's Who in American Law®, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare®, Who's Who in Science and Engineering®, and Who's Who in Asia®. Marquis® publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who® website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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