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Vanessa Thomas is responsible for the strategic vision for SOCAN’s A&R team and event management professionals, with the objective to expand the development of emerging talent in music creation. Before joining the Membership department, Vanessa served as Executive Director of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame for five years. She also spent 15 years in California working with major broadcasters, both on and off-air, and ran Gavin Magazine, a well-known broadcast industry trade publication. Vanessa has previously served as Managing Director of Nielsen Entertainment Canada and then Senior Vice President, North America Nielsen Music, a position she held for 12 years. In the digital space, she opened and ran Songza Canada's offices, and led business development for Rdio Canada. Vanessa completed her BFA at Concordia University and earned her MFA at Cal State, Long Beach. She lends lead vocals to a West-end Toronto rock group, Pandaband.