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Vanessa Stokes

@veecstokes

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Artist | Curator | Writer | Entrepreneur
Westside Chicago | Creative Development Solutions | Westside Review | Outwest Gallery & Cafe

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If you have been wondering what I have been working on, here is one on my projects that I am so honored and excited to be a part of. We got a @hebrubrantley sculpture, right here on Chicago Ave! So excited and more to come. Be on the lookout for the official unveiling on November 8th! #popcourts #westsidechicago #chicagoave #soulcity #ilovewhereilive by @veecstokes

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2 years ago

I’m Open to Work!

I’m currently exploring new full-time professional opportunities and would love the support of my network!

For more than 20 years, I’ve worked at the intersection of community and economic development, strategic planning, nonprofit leadership, creative placemaking, and organizational development.

Throughout my career, I’ve brought ideas to life, developed innovative strategies, cultivated partnerships, managed complex initiatives, and helped organizations and communities move from vision to implementation.

One of my proudest accomplishments was developing the original concept and strategy for POPCourts on Chicago’s West Side, an initiative that helped inspire the City of Chicago’s expansion of the model through its POP! program.

I’m especially interested in opportunities involving:
* Strategic Initiatives & Special Projects
* Program Leadership & Management
* Philanthropy & Foundation Programs
* Community & Economic Development
* Partnerships & Stakeholder Engagement
* Nonprofit Leadership & Operations

I’m seeking a full-time opportunity in Chicago or a remote/hybrid role where I can contribute my experience, creativity, strategic thinking, and ability to bring people and resources together.

I’m excited about this next chapter and the opportunity to bring my skills and perspective to a new team.
If you know of any opportunities, have a lead, or can make an introduction, please send me a DM! I would greatly appreciate your connections, recommendations, and shares.

Thank you for being part of my network!

#OpenToWork #ChicagoJobs #StrategicLeadership #NonprofitLeadership #CommunityDevelopment taken in West Side, Chicago by @veecstokes

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2 days ago

Writing has been a vein of my existence for as long as I can remember. I love writing, especially when it flows and I feel connected to something beyond myself.

Over the last few years, writing has become a daily practice. I spend hours either in front of my journal or a computer screen. This is exactly where I want to be, and I am grateful to be able to continue doing what I love.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of every emotion, and I am still here. Still writing. Still sharing my world. One of the things I love most about myself is my ability to allow. I allow it—life, whatever is happening in the moment—to be. I created a way for myself to write and publish daily, and then BOOM, life happened. And I realized, this is exactly how The Day Before is going to go.

When I post The Day Before, it will be about the day before I sat down to write. I am documenting my life as I am living it right now, doing life the way I do it. I have so much inside of me, I’ve got to get it out. Writing gives me a cathartic way to share what comes from my reflections and the deep waters of my intuition.

I won’t be posting The Day Before every day, at least not right now. Creating and publishing a daily account of my life is a bucket-list item, and I am creating my way toward it by simply doing it. Over time, I would love for this to become a true daily column. For now, I’ll also be publishing other things—articles, interviews, and maybe even an in-depth series or two.

One thing to know: the date on each The Day Before column is the date I wrote it, not necessarily the date I publish it.

So, here is the first installment of The Day Before.

If you get something for yourself from my writing, I would love to hear from you.

Thank you for being here.

Subscribe to Westside Review on Substack. #ilovewhereilive #westsidechicago #ilovemylife taken in West Side of Chicago! by @veecstokes

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12 days ago

I thought about waiting until I had figured everything out to share this. I’m not doing that anymore.

This is where I am today. Not where I was. Not where I hope to be. Where I am right now.

This is uncomfortable. This is vulnerable. And this is real.

I don’t know what will come from sharing it, but I am allowing myself to be seen, supported and connected while I am still in the middle of the story.

So here I am.

Please read. Please share. And if something you read makes you think of an opportunity, a connection, a collaboration—or you simply want to support me—I’m open.

Thank you for seeing me. ❤️

Swipe → taken in West Side, Chicago by @veecstokes

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19 days ago

We need to talk and I believe now is the time.

With elections happening around us, decisions being made about our communities, and so much uncertainty affecting our homes, families, work, and everyday lives, I keep coming back to one thing:

We need spaces where we can actually talk to one another.

Not another meeting where someone already has the answers. Not another presentation telling us what our community needs.

An authentic conversation.

On Saturday, August 29, I’m inviting neighbors, artists, organizers, community members and anyone invested in the West Side, to join us for the first Westside Conversations: Living Studio. We’ll explore a simple but important question:

What helps communities thrive and what can we create together?

For me, this gathering feels especially critical right now. There is so much happening politically, economically, socially, and personally. We can spend our time reacting to what is happening around us or we can create spaces where we listen, recognize what already exists within our communities, and begin imagining what is possible together.

I believe thriving communities are created by creating the right conditions: authenticity, agency, curiosity, reciprocity, trust, direct communication, and recognition.

That is the kind of space I want Westside Conversations to become.
No predetermined outcome. No one coming in to “fix” us. No performance.

Just people, conversation, possibility and the question:
What can we create together?

📍 Austin Library 5615 W Race Ave, Chicago 📅 Saturday, August 29, 2026 ⏰ 1:00–3:00 PM 🥤 Light refreshments will be served.

Scan the QR code on the flyer to RSVP. Come as you are. Bring your perspective. Bring your questions. Bring your ideas.
It’s time for us to talk.

#WestsideConversations #ChicagoWestSide #AustinChicago #CommunityDevelopment #ilovewhereilive taken in Westside Chicago by @veecstokes

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2 months ago

This is the love of my life. She has taught me so much about myself and who I am in the world. Yesterday, she said to me that she was proud of how far I’ve come and she said, “You’re like a completely different person.” She also said she was scared of me when she was younger and she doesn’t feel like that anymore. Let me tell you something… I have done so much work on myself to really get who I am and the impact I have on the people I love and that love me. But this right here, this person that I love beyond belief is the reason why I’ve transformed my life so she can see the possibility. I don’t have a lot in my life and life is lifeing right now, but I do know this, I am on the abundance track when my love tells me how proud of me she is and how much she wants to be like me when she gets older. Her brother, Vivian says the same thing but today I am sharing how much I love and cherish Sarah and I’m so happy she chose me! #ilovewhereilive #ilovemylife #love taken in West Side, Chicago by @veecstokes

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3 months ago

I’ve been building something much bigger than a single project. This month’s newsletter brings it all together. Inside you’ll find:

☕ Updates on Outwest Gallery & Café
✨ My new Creative Development Solutions advisory services
🗣️ An invitation to our first Westside Conversations Living Studio at Austin Library on Saturday, August 29
❤️ A way to support the development of Outwest Gallery & Café through our GoFundMe campaign

If you believe neighborhoods deserve places where art, conversation, food, and community come together, I’d love to have you on this journey.

📩 Subscribe to the newsletter through the link in my bio.

Every issue shares what we’re building and why it matters.

#OutwestGalleryCafe #CreativeDevelopmentSolutions #WestsideConversations #ILoveWhereILive #ILovemylife taken in West Side, Chicago by @veecstokes

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3 months ago

I’m in bed, right now, with a headache, zero dollars, and feeling like summer is happening without me.

It’s an interesting place to be because I’m also genuinely excited about the work I’m creating.

Both things are true.

I’m learning that building something meaningful doesn’t always look like momentum. Sometimes it looks like rest. Sometimes it looks like uncertainty. Sometimes it looks like trusting that the work is still unfolding even when nothing around me feels abundant.

So I’m curious:

Have you ever been in a season where your inner world was expanding while your outer circumstances hadn’t caught up yet?

That’s where I am today. #ilovemylife #ilovewhereilive #authenticity #entrepreneur #outwestgalleryandcafé taken in West Side, Chicago by @veecstokes

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3 months ago

Happy Thursday! What’s going on over there with you? This is a little live that I did today taking a little break from some administrative work. I hope you are well. #westsideisthebestside #austinchicago #ilovewhereilive #whatareyouexcitedabout #happythursday taken in WESTSIDE!!!!! by @veecstokes

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4 months ago

📢 WESTSIDE ASSEMBLY UPDATE

The Westside Assembly scheduled for Saturday, June 6 at LaFollette Park has been postponed.

As we continue building the ASYMBOL – Westside Assembly system, we are taking additional time to strengthen partnerships, deepen community outreach, and prepare for a more impactful gathering later this summer.

We look forward to reconvening in August 2026 and will share the new date and details soon.

The conversations around community wealth building, culture, environmental justice, leadership, and collective stewardship continue. This is not a pause in the work, we need a moment to regroup, organize, and return stronger.

Thank you to everyone who has supported, participated in, and helped shape this growing movement.

Stay connected for updates and opportunities to engage.

Sometimes building lasting systems requires slowing down long enough to ensure the foundation is strong. We appreciate your continued support and look forward to gathering with you again soon.

#WestsideAssembly #ASYMBOL #CommunityPower #ChicagoWestSide CommunityDevelopment taken in West Side of Chicago! by @veecstokes

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4 months ago

Tomorrow I’ll be participating in the People’s Assembly, joining community leaders, organizers, and residents in conversations about what it means to build power, belonging, and collective action from the ground up.

For me, these gatherings are reminders that community isn’t something we consume. It’s something we practice.

I’m looking forward to listening, learning, and bringing those insights back into the work we are building through ASYMBOL – Westside Assembly and Outwest Gallery & Café.

The future of our communities isn’t something we wait for. It’s something we create together.

#CommunityEngagement #PeoplesAssembly #WestsideAssembly #Chicago #CommunityPower ILoveWhereILive taken in West Side of Chicago! by @veecstokes

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5 months ago

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about what it actually takes to continue doing this work over time.

Not the public-facing parts. The real thing. Continuing to hold vision for community, culture, possibility, and transformation while also navigating the very human realities of bills, food, exhaustion, uncertainty, and responsibility.

I’m tired and excited at the same time.

I’m not sharing this from a place of lack or complaint. Honestly, I feel more grounded in myself than I have in a long time. I trust my vision. I trust the work. I trust what I’m building through Westside Assembly, VS Creative Consulting, Westside Review, and the larger ecosystem I’ve been cultivating across Chicago’s Westside and Black Chicago.

But I also think people should understand that this kind of work requires real support to sustain.

This week I stopped to save a tiny baby turtle crossing the road and somehow that moment stayed with me. Maybe because it reminded me that moving slowly is still movement. That care matters. That survival and softness can exist together.

I’m no longer interpreting difficult seasons as punishment. Some seasons are preparation. This one is stretching my capacity for what’s next.

And if my work, writing, organizing, strategy, or storytelling has impacted you over the years, I welcome support, collaboration, opportunities, and aligned partnership as I continue building.

Cash App: $VanessaStokes

#ILoveWhereILive taken in West Side of Chicago! by @veecstokes

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5 months ago