Vanessa Bernstein currently works as a senior planner for Forsyth County in north metro Atlanta. This position oversees the long range planning division which is responsible for guiding policy and code decisions related to land use development. Forsyth County has been on the top ten list of fastest growing counties in the nation per the U. S. Census since the new millennium and is the wealthiest county within the state based on median income according to Forbes.
After completing the M.A. program at the University of West Georgia, Vanessa spent time pursuing horticulture by working for an indoor plant service company and interning at Callaway Gardens while continuing to audit psychology courses in an effort to begin synthesizing her studies with environmental design practices. She later accepted a position as an admissions counselor with the University of West Georgia and then became an academic advisor for UWG’s College of Education. After three years of working on UWG’s campus, Vanessa moved to Athens to pursue studies in landscape architecture where she earned a Master of Landscape Architecture with a certificate in Historic Preservation Studies. While a graduate student at UGA, she worked for two years surveying historic structures in five Georgia counties for the Find It program. This program, whose purpose is to document cultural resources throughout the state, is coordinated through the Center for Community Design and Preservation within UGA’s College of Environment and Design. During her graduate work, she interned with the Georgia Conservancy, participated in the Etowah Initiative (a service learning course focused on the protection of the Etowah River basin), and completed an interdisciplinary stone design workshop hosted by the late Robert Murase, founder of Murase Associates in Portland. Upon graduation, she accepted an internship under the supervision of the historic preservation planner at Athens-Clarke County prior to being hired by Forsyth County. In addition to career changes, Vanessa says that driving across the country (GA to Montreal and back in ‘05 and CA to GA in ‘07) on the back of a Triumph Speed Triple with her partner has been one of the most rewarding experiences she has accomplished in the past few years.
Vanessa expresses that her time at West Georgia “allowed me a framework to begin integrating my varied life experiences through a psychological point of view.” Vanessa was attracted to the program because “it simultaneously attended to the transpersonal while engaging the perennial philosophical tradition as well as incorporating depth psychology. What a smorgasbord! I wanted to sit and eat at THAT table.” Vanessa says that “the program specifically allowed me to incorporate my love of social sciences with the humanities in the quest I’ve always been on, that is, the search for meaning and the further elucidation of the self within the matrix of our social fabric. In essence, I found a home and place to discuss life with like-minded persons.” Upon leaving West Georgia, “I embarked on non-academic studies including Pathwork, Barbara Brennan energy work, and Kabbalistic healing as conceptualized by the work of Jason Shulman. This has furthered my personal growth for which I am indebted to West Georgia.”
Vanessa Bernstein
vdbernstein@windstream.net