Vanessa Bissessur

Chief Operating Officer, IHRB

Expertise

Vanessa has extensive management experience, particularly within the charity and not-for-profit sector. She is experienced in establishing and growing programmes from scratch, creating and developing policies and procedures, and financial, donor and governance management. Additionally, she is CIPD qualified with an Associate Diploma in People Management.

Current Work

As Chief Operating Officer, Vanessa has operational oversight for all the key central components of IHRB, including its subsidiaries and associated organisations. Vanessa works closely with IHRB's CEO, Deputy CEO and Accountant on financial planning and budgets, and contributes to funding proposals and donor reporting. Vanessa’s responsibilities also include end-to-end human resources expertise, governance management and support for organisational growth, compliance and best practice.

Before IHRB

Vanessa has previously developed services and projects for refugees, asylum seekers, young people and other vulnerable groups, and is also experienced in grant-making management. She has previously worked for the Citizens Advice Bureau and  British Red Cross Society.