Vanessa Healey

Originally from central New York, Vanessa Healey holds a B.A. in Theatre with a concentration in production from the University at Albany. Vanessa moved to Minneapolis in August 2007 and has been a part of events management, traditional and non-traditional theater, and generative music and dance creation. She has worked extensively in the Twin Cities with companies including the Children’s Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater, Yellow Tree Theatre, Open Eye Figure Theatre, Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project, LightHouse Productions, KTMY 107.1, among others. East coast regional credits include Goodspeed Musicals, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hangar Theatre, Mill Mountain Theatre, and Chester Theatre Company. Prior to joining the University of Minnesota as Production Manager in 2021, Vanessa spent nearly twelve years working at the intersection of arts and disability with Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts. While there, she served as a department manager, producer, production manager, and stage manager of all events, grant-funded projects, visual arts exhibitions, and full-scale theatrical productions with teams averaging 70+ people per production. Her focus was to use inclusive creative collaboration to challenge perceptions of people with disabilities while applying the lenses of agency, equity, parity, and pluralism.