Vanessa D’Silva is a versatile and motivated instructional design consultant with over 24 years of experience designing and developing eLearning, instructor-led, and blended training programs. She has a strong background in technical tools and best practices, built from working with clients in numerous industries around the globe. Her approach focuses on accurately assessing training needs, developing optimal solutions, and evaluating results.

As an independent consultant, Vanessa has worked with a wide range of organizations, from small startups to large global corporations. This breadth of experience has given her deep insight into the unique challenges facing each organization and a firm understanding that no single “one-size-fits-all” approach exists for designing effective educational programs. She has been instrumental in helping several small companies establish training and education departments, create best practices, and maintain consistent training across branch offices during periods of growth.

In her work with larger corporations, Vanessa has played a key role in assisting training departments to create relevant and engaging educational programs for diverse populations. She has also provided guidance on high-quality, effective, scalable, and affordable training solutions and methods.

In addition, after relocating from Chicago to the small rural town of Clayton, New Mexico, Vanessa opened a continuing education learning center in an underserved area with no higher education institutions within a 100-mile radius. To help build the skills of the local workforce, she developed a job skills and personal development curriculum and taught classes on topics including computer skills, customer service, communication, and money management.

Vanessa earned a master’s degree in Training and Development from Roosevelt University and a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from Loyola University Chicago. In addition to her work as a training consultant, she is a volunteer firefighter and EMT.