Vanessa Lester

Vanessa Lester (they/them) was born in Jacksonville, FL and spent their formative years in Ocala, FL. Following in the footsteps of their uncle, they joined the US Army. After retiring from the military, they opted to reside in Virginia until 2006 when they returned to Florida to care for their grandmother. Vanessa is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) through Project Management Institute (PMI) and has been employed as an Information Systems Project Manager for over 30 years.
After receiving the response from too many of the youth in her family in 2015 that they didn’t vote and being asked what can she do; Vanessa made the commitment after the election of Trump in 2016 to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. They sought out the progressive community in Hillsborough and consistently encourages people to not only vote but to participate in the process. Vanessa has served as Vice President of the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Tampa Bay from 2018 to 2021 and currently is on the board, Hillsborough County’s DEC 1st Vice Chair of Operation 2018 to 2020. They have served as the Hillsborough County State Committeewoman since 2018 and been appointed to the Florida Democratic Party’s Campaign, Affirmative Action on Delegate Selection, Judicial and Resolution Committees. Vanessa has also had the honor and privilege of being elected as a Bernie Sanders Delegate for the Democratic National Convention in 2020, Vice President Democratic Progress Caucus of Florida in 2021 and assumed the role of President of the Caucus in 2022.