IN THE MEDIA
Vanessa is an active member of the media landscape, with more than 30 years of experience. She was a full-time reporter and talk show host at WJR 760 AM where she also hosted a weekly radio program called It's Your Community that aired on 96.3 and 93.1 FM. She brings her communication expertise to multiple platforms. She hosts Epiphany on Ave Maria Radio and regularly fills in for Teresa Tomeo on EWTN’s Catholic Connection. She also hosts a segment on Chaldean Voice and pens her blog, Epiphany Insights, where she reflects on how we can use various platforms to tell our stories and share our mission and our personal experiences with greater clarity and purpose.
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Her work in radio, blogging, and communications gives her a unique perspective on how people and organizations can use various platforms—social media, blogs, websites, and more—to tell their stories effectively. Vanessa guides clients in shaping and sharing their own narratives in ways that align with their values, strengthen their identity, and connect authentically with their audiences..
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Because she remains actively engaged in both traditional and digital media, Vanessa brings real‑time industry insight to her coaching and consulting. She understands how messages are received, how stories resonate, and how communication shapes culture—knowledge she shares generously with the leaders and teams she serves.
Vanessa is the host of Epiphany on Ave Maria Radio is heard on weekdays at 12 Noon ET on AM 990, FM 105.5 in Detroit. You can download the APP or listen LIVE online at www.avemariaradio.net.
Vanessa produces and hosts a weekly news update that airs on the Chaldean Voice, an independent Chaldean radio program that reaches Chaldeans around the globe and airs locally in Detroit.
Vanessa helped create this religious-based television production company for the Eastern Catholic Re-Evangelization Center (ECRC) in Michigan. As the executive producer of programming, Denha Media Group oversees all Mar Toma projects. The programs produced air on both EWTN and Noursat globally.
Vanessa is a regular fill-in host for Teresa Tomeo on EWTN’s Catholic Connection, which airs weekday mornings from 9 to 11am ET.
“One of the things that I love about voice-over is that it’s liberating. You’re able to make broad choices that you would never make if you were on camera.” - Mark Hamhill
VOICE OVERS
Vanessa has been doing voice-over work as a voice talent for more than 20 years. She has voiced commercials, documentaries, news packages and marketing videos.
Hear some examples of Vanessa’s voice-work in voicemail messages for various local businesses.
EMMY AWARD WINNER
“Kiss The Babies” is a documentary film that takes a look at one of America’s most disturbing Issues. Gun violence is now the number one killer of children under the age of eighteen. This raw, emotional, documentary takes an uncomfortable look at how we got to this unacceptable place.
“Kiss The Babies” is not a film about gun control, rather, it’s a truly non-partisan look at how gun violence has trickled through the layers of political posturing and public opinion and landed squarely in the laps of our children. Not just our children, but our babies! Gun violence is now a part of our children’s everyday culture, and it’s them who are forced to deal with the issue every time they leave their home.
While society is looking to lawmakers for a solution, we must first understand what is causing the illness before we can deliver a cure. Through the eyes of gunshot victims and families left behind, “Kiss the Babies” reveals that gun violence is the direct symptom of something much deeper.
As the country continues to wrangle with gun violence, Detroit remains the epicenter as it has now for decades. At the heart of the struggle are thousands of families and victims, many of whom are children. But no one asks what happens after the trigger is pulled, the funeral is over, the cameras are off and everyone has moved on to the next tragedy. Kiss the Babies is the painstaking but long-overdue effort of showing what happened… and what hasn’t happened in response to the violence that continues to hold our communities, hostage. For those who choose to see it, there is also a glaring and stark answer to what needs to happen so that we stop playing Russian Roulette with the lives of those we claim to love. Kiss the Babies should be required for everyone who has shaken their head, cried a tear, or said, “someone needs to do something.” Watch it closely. Feel it deeply. Nothing will resonate and touch your soul more.
DETROIT NEWS COLUMNIST Karen Dumas
