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 is an Associate 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 and SoFloNOMA’s Project Pipeline Summer Camp. She has served on the National Organization of Minority Architects Chapter boards in South Florida (SoFloNOMA) and Louisiana (NOMALA) and was the 2022-2023 co-chair of the AIA Miami Women in Architecture Committee. Vanessa was the 2021 President of SoFloNOMA and 2025 President of AIA Miami.