Vanessa Aramayo serves as CEO of Alliance for a Better Community, where she leads the
strategic vision, establishes policy priorities, and oversees the administration and operations of the organization, along with the development of cross-sector partnerships, policy advocacy, and community-driven initiatives that drive systemic change.
Her role involves developing and guiding a high-performing team, cultivating new leaders, securing sustainable funding, and ensuring measurable impact across all initiatives, campaigns, and programs. She serves as the organization’s primary spokesperson and has appeared on local and cable news programming and Telemundo 52 and Univision 34. She’s also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Politico, La Opinion, and Santa Monica Daily Press. She also leads as liaison to local, state, and federal government, philanthropy, business, and grassroots leaders. Under her leadership, Alliance for a Better Community has expanded its reach, influence, and effectiveness in shaping policies that create lasting, positive change.
Vanessa brings over 25 years of experience leading campaigns and policy efforts at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as on local and statewide ballot measures. She has successfully managed advocacy campaigns that secured increased investments in parent engagement at the local school district level, delivered a more equitable state budget in California, and expanded access to affordable health care while advancing comprehensive immigration reform nationally. Her leadership in these campaigns has built power for historically underserved communities while creating systemic changes that continue to benefit families today.
Her career spans work in California’s Legislature and the United States Congress to over a decade of nonprofit leadership, giving her deep insight into advancing racial equity and justice. She has consulted on outreach, field, and communications strategies for political and ballot campaigns across California, partnering with rural and urban communities of color to ensure their voices are represented in decision-making.
In 2023, Vanessa was appointed by Mayor Karen Bass to the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, and, as of March 2026, serves as Vice Chair of the board. In this role, she has worked to strengthen the local economy by supporting small and minority-owned businesses connected to airport operations, advancing the future of aviation in Los Angeles, and ensuring procurement mechanisms are rooted in equity and designed to empower community -and small business–driven solutions.
Vanessa also brings private sector expertise, having launched her career at a Fortune 500 company. This experience, combined with her upbringing in a small business family, gives her a unique understanding of the intersections between corporate structures, small business challenges, and community-based economic development.
Daughter of a single immigrant mother and the first in her family to graduate from college, Vanessa earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations from UCLA. She lives in Northeast Los Angeles with her husband and twin daughters.