Vanessa Mejia-Sanchez

To be the first in her family to attend such a prestigious program as CHCI, Vanessa Mejia-Sanchez is making unimaginable dreams come true. From South Saint Louis City, Missouri, she is brought up in a single-parent household. Having a “hard work” mindset embedded into her gave Vanessa the success to achieve her dreams. From a young age, Vanessa was not fully aware of what it meant to be a Latina.

That was until high school. Vanessa attends an all-girl school that is predominantly all white. She had a hard time finding herself and her crowd. After hearing speeches and reading memoirs, she found the courage to express her culture. She became president of her students of color affinity group and found her interest in politics by participating in Model UN and YAG. She knows that attending CHCI NextGen will guide her through the rest of her life as a leader.