By LIBN Staff

Posted on June 20, 2025

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Vanessa Baird-Streeter 

President and Chief Executive Officer

Health & Welfare Council of Long Island 

Vanessa Baird-Streeter is president and chief executive officer of the Health & Welfare Council of Long Island, an organization dedicated to addressing the challenges faced by Long Island’s at-risk and vulnerable populations through collaboration with nonprofit agencies, individuals and corporations.

Before joining the Health & Welfare Council, Baird-Streeter spent more than a decade in Suffolk County government, most recently serving as deputy county executive. In this role, she oversaw various county agencies, projects and initiatives. She co-chaired the Suffolk County Police Reform and Reinvention Task Force and led the county’s MWBE/SDVOB Disparity Study, which aimed to establish legal frameworks for requiring inclusion of businesses owned by women, minorities and service-disabled veterans in the county’s procurement process. Additionally, she played a crucial role in the county’s COVID-19 response, setting up hot-spot testing sites in underserved communities and ensuring equitable vaccine distribution.

Baird-Streeter began her career as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs. She has also held positions as director of the Ministry to Catholics of African Ancestry, director of communications for the Town of Babylon and executive director of communications for the Long Island Power Authority.

Her extensive community involvement has earned her numerous awards for her philanthropic, business and community-based efforts. She is the director of the Venettes Cultural Workshop, a performing arts company that provides technical training and academic motivation through the arts. The organization offers post-secondary scholarships to graduating seniors and scholarships for performing arts classes at local, regional and national levels.

Baird-Streeter holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics and education from Dartmouth College.