Vanessa joined the FAME staff in January 2025 after serving as a participant on a FAME short-term trip to South Africa in 2024. She studied International Health, with a minor in Spanish, at Western Michigan University and completed the final semester of her undergraduate degree studying and interning in Spain. She is also certified as a Nursing Assistant, with clinical experience ranging from general medicine to neonatal intensive care.

Vanessa is from Michigan and is the second of four children of Paul and Kathy Scheel. Although both of her parents are engineers, she and her siblings have all found themselves in health-related professions. Her older sister, Olivia, is a Speech-Language Pathologist in West Lafayette, IN. Her younger brother, Donovan, is  preparing for physical therapy school, and youngest brother, Adam, is in his first year of nursing school.

Vanessa enjoys going with the flow, laughter, and just about any activity that involves time well spent with others. She particularly enjoys traveling, exploring the outdoors, sports (especially soccer), cooking without a recipe, trying new things, meeting new people, and unhurried time. She is excited to be here in Indy with FAME and to combine her clinical and international experience to help cultivate and grow the mobilization team.