Vanessa Smith Torres is a Puerto Rican born Architect based in Miami, FL. She received a Bachelors from Northeastern University and a Master of Architecture from Tulane University. Vanessa acts as Project Architect at Perkins&Will Miami. She has worked on award winning projects in various market sectors - from Hospitality to Education to Healthcare. Vanessa specializes in building design for performance and wellness, and is knowledgeable in building certification programs such as LEED, WELL, SITES, and the Living Building Challenge. Committed to building a more equitable profession, Vanessa is a mentor for Arquitina, a national program to raise the 1.7% of licensed Latinas, has led Project Pipeline, a summer camp introducing architecture to minority students, and has served on the National Organization of Minority Architects Chapter boards in South Florida (SoFloNOMA) and Louisiana (NOMALA). She was the 2021 President of SoFloNOMA and serves as 2025 President of AIA Miami.