Vanessa Bentley is a Senior Solutions Specialist with Grand River Solutions and has 10 years of professional experience working in higher education. Vanessa spent the entirety of those years at Cornell University, where she served the collegiate community, and surrounding areas, as a patrol officer with the Cornell University Police Department for over 6 years, and then as an equity and Title IX investigator.

Vanessa is certified in trauma interviewing using the FETI technique, and has conducted hundreds of interviews with complainants, respondents, and witnesses in both of her roles at Cornell. As an Equity and Title IX investigator, Vanessa was primarily responsible for responding to and investigating allegations of prohibited discrimination, protected status harassment, and sexual and related misconduct by and against students, staff, and faculty. Additionally, Vanessa was a certified Domestic Violence Instructor for her police department, as well as a Field Training Officer, Physical Fitness, and Defensive Tactics instructor for her department and local police academies.

Vanessa received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Sociology and Criminal Justice, respectively, from the University at Albany.