Vanessa Baden

Vanessa Jennifer Baden-Kelly (born September 8, 1985) is an American actress, writer, director, and producer. She began her career as a child actress in the Nickelodeon television series Gullah Gullah Island (1994–1998) and Kenan & Kel (1996–2000). Since 2017, she has starred, co-written, and co-produced the web series Giants, which streams on Issa Rae's YouTube channel. Her performance in Giants garnered her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 2018. 2Early life Baden was born in Manhattan Beach, California and raised in Satellite Beach, Florida, where she got her start as a model in print ads. In 2004, she won the Florida District Miss Black and Gold Pageant, representing the Iota Delta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at a regional competition in Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated from Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida in December 2007 with a degree in sociology. 2Career Baden began her career as a child actress on television; her first major role was as Vanessa in the Nickelodeon children's television series Gullah Gullah Island. Following this, she portrayed Kyra Rockmore for more than 60 episodes of the teen sitcom Kenan & Kel, which also aired on Nickelodeon. In 1997, she played a supporting role in the film Rosewood and served as a panelist on the children's panel game show Figure It Ou