Vanessa Ziff Lasdon is the founder and director of W.O.R.D. Ink Agency. Since 2002, Vanessa has been an LA-based educator and writer. A UT Austin Longhorn, Vanessa earned dual degrees in Communications & Spanish with a minor in Digital Journalism before receiving an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her graduate thesis, "Please Sweat the Small Stuff: Shaping Tone with Sound and Syntax," was awarded highest honors. 

As a writer for kids and teens, Vanessa feels fortunate to be represented by the fabulous Sara Crowe. In her first novel, Vanessa's junior-high protagonist discovers that life's biggest battles aren't against bullies; they're in owning up to one's self. Vanessa's second novel, a YA slipstream fantasy, explores the paradoxes inherent within all of us and one girl's unlikely destiny to weave Light out of Dark.

Vanessa began her teaching career as a selected 4th grade corps member with Teach For America, a division of the Peace Corps. She earned her multi-subject teaching credential from California State University, Los Angeles where she also developed and presented professional writing courses for LAUSD educators as a teaching fellow with Cal State’s L.A. Writing Project. Vanessa moved on to join The Curtis School as a 5th grade teacher for several years where she also designed and directed a host of innovative summer writing workshops for kids.

As a freelance writer, editor, and curriculum developer for scholastic sites such as Newsela.com, Shmoop.com, and National Geographic Education, Vanessa works on projects like "leveling" news articles for grades 2-12 and crafting teaching guides that target critical reading and writing skills.