About Vanessa!

Vanessa Sossa Sanchez is a New York-based community educator and plant-based cook whose work explores the intersection of food systems, behavioral psychology, and the craft of consumption. With a background in psychology and a career rooted in public health advocacy, Vanessa deconstructs the traditional "cooking class" into interactive, sensory exploration of our relationship with the land and one another.

As the founder of Alegría Vegana, she facilitates workshops that treat ingredients as "sensory biographies"—using the tactile acts of hand-processing, plating, and intentional tasting to investigate the labor and history behind what we eat. Her practice moves beyond recipes, focusing instead on food as a universal language for storytelling and systemic awareness.

Currently a lead educator within the NYC public health sector, Vanessa is dedicated to creating grounded, inclusive spaces where the act of the meal becomes a participatory art form. She is a bilingual facilitator committed to making food consciousness an accessible, creative, and transformative community experience.