Moises Vela

Last updated
Moe Vela
Born
Moises V. Vela Jr.

Harlingen, Texas, U.S.
Alma mater University of Texas at Austin (BA)
St. Mary's University School of Law (JD)
Occupation(s)Attorney, political advisor
Relatives Filemon Vela Sr. (uncle)

Moises V. "Moe" Vela Jr. is an American attorney and political advisor. [1] Vela is the CEO and president of The Vela Group, LLC, a global business development consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. He is also of counsel at the law firm of Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner.

Contents

Vela is the first Hispanic to serve in two senior executive roles in the White House, first during the Clinton administration as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Advisor for Latino Affairs in the Office of Vice President Al Gore, and later during the Obama administration as Director of Administration for Vice President Joe Biden. [2]

Early life and education

Vela is a native of Harlingen, Texas, graduating from Harlingen High School in 1980. [3] His father, Moises Vela, was a Cameron County judge, and his uncle, Filemon Vela Sr., was a judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. [3] Vela is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and St. Mary's University School of Law. [4]

Vela is gay. [5]

Political career

In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed Vela to the U.S. Department of Agriculture as an assistant to the administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service. While there, Vela advanced the department's employee diversity recruitment program. In 1996 he took on the position of chief financial officer and senior policy advisor/coordinator of Hispanic outreach activities at the Office of the Vice President. [6]

During the Obama administration, Vela was named the Director of Administration for Vice President Joe Biden. [7] He became the first openly gay person and the first Hispanic-American to serve twice in the White House in a senior role. [8]

Advocacy career

After serving on the staff of Vice President Al Gore, [6] Vela helped launch a cyberspace company, later creating the consulting company "Diverse Directions," supporting the development of Latino marketing strategies and community outreach. [2] In 2001 he was hired as the head of Strategia Hispanic Marketing. [6]

In 2004 he began work as a housing advocate. [9] Vela also created the El Centro Legal Latino in Birmingham, Alabama, which educates members of the Southeastern United States United States Latino community on their legal rights. [2] He also founded and served as first chair of the Alabama Hispanic Chamber of Congress. [2] Vela also served as executive director of the "National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals," an organization that includes over 12,000 members from 48 states. [2] He later served as senior vice president of Multicultural Strategies at United Dominion Realty Trust, and then president of his own consulting business, Comunidades LLC. [2]

Vela has worked as a staff member in the Texas House of Representatives, serving as committee clerk and legislative director for Representative Rene Oliveira, and then committee clerk for Senator Eddie Bernice Johnson, working to support the Interim Committee on Minority and Women Business Ownership Opportunities. [2]

After his second stint with the White House, Vela worked as a partner in the Public Policy & Regulation Group of Holland & Knight. [2] He also began work as a lobbyist until 2017, when he took on the role of president and CEO of MoeVela LLC. [10] He is now a board member of and the chief transparency officer for TransparentBusiness. [11] In April 2021, Vela became a panelist for the new TV series Unicorn Hunters , a business investment show from the makers of the series The Masked Singer . [12] [13] In November 2022, Vela joined the board of Easy Energy Systems Inc, in a senior advisor role. [14]

Professional awards and honors

Recognition for Vela has included being named to the Top 100 Most Influential People for Hispanics in the Nation's Capitol by El Tiempo Latino in 2017; one of the Top 101 Latino Leaders by Latino Leaders Magazine in both 2010 and 2011; one of the Top 300 Washington, D.C. Insiders by National Journal in 2010, and one of the Top 100 Hispanics in America by Hispanic Business in 2009. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harlingen, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

Harlingen is a city in Cameron County in the central region of the Rio Grande Valley of the southern part of the U.S. state of Texas, about 30 miles (48 km) from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The city covers more than 40 square miles (104 km2) and is the second-largest city in Cameron County, as well as the fourth-largest in the Rio Grande Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 71,892.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Klain</span> White House chief of staff from 2021 to 2023

Ronald Alan Klain is an American attorney, political consultant, and former lobbyist who served as White House chief of staff under President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leslie Sanchez</span> American author and political pundit (born 1971)

Leslie Sanchez is an American author, political pundit affiliated with the Republican Party, and founder/CEO of Impacto Group LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based market research and consulting firm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Reed (political operative)</span> American political advisor (born 1960)

Bruce Reed is an American political advisor and non-profit administrator who was the president of the Broad Foundation. Prior to assuming that role in December 2013, he served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and as CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). On December 22, 2020, it was announced that Reed would serve as a White House deputy chief of staff in the Biden administration, along with Jen O'Malley Dillon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family of Joe Biden</span> Immediate family of Joe Biden

Joe Biden, the 46th and current president of the United States, has family members who are prominent in law, education, activism and politics. Biden's immediate family became the first family of the United States on his inauguration on January 20, 2021. His immediate family circle was also the second family of the United States from 2009 to 2017, when Biden was vice president. Biden's family is mostly descended from the British Isles, with most of their ancestors coming from Ireland and England, and a smaller number descending from the French.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Donilon</span> American government officer (born 1958)

Michael C. Donilon is an American attorney and campaign consultant who is a longtime advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden. He was the chief strategist of Biden's 2020 presidential campaign and currently serves in the same capacity in the 2024 presidential campaign. He was a senior advisor to Biden during the first three years of his presidency. Prior, Donilon was working as a partner at AKPD Message and Media. Between 2009 and 2013, he served as Counselor to Vice President Biden in the Obama administration. Before his White House appointment, Donilon worked with the vice-presidential candidate to help him prepare for the debates and as a traveling advisor.

Filemón Bartolomé Vela was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Ricchetti</span> American political adviser and lobbyist (born 1957)

Steven J. Ricchetti is an American political aide serving as a Counselor to the President under President Joe Biden. He was the chairman of Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign. Ricchetti previously served as Chief of Staff to Vice President Biden during the Obama administration and Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations under President Bill Clinton. In between stints in Democratic administrations, Ricchetti has worked as a lobbyist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosa Gumataotao Rios</span> American politician (born 1965)

Rosa Gumataotao Rios is an American academic. She served as the 43rd Treasurer of the United States and is a visiting scholar at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Verde</span>

Juan Verde Suárez is a Spanish business and social entrepreneur who assisted the Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign, as well as earlier campaigns of prominent Democrats such as President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Senator John Kerry, and Senator Ted Kennedy. He is currently a member of the President's Export Council, an advisory body to the White House on international trade and U.S. competitiveness in international markets, under President Biden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filemon Vela Jr.</span> American politician (born 1963)

Filemón Bartolomé Vela Jr. is an American lobbyist, lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 34th congressional district from 2013 until his resignation in 2022. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Vela was also vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, having been nominated by President Joe Biden. In March 2022, Vela resigned in the middle of his term to work at Akin Gump.

Herbie Ziskend is an American political advisor and a deputy director of communications for the Biden administration since August 2022. He has previously served as a communications advisor for Vice President Kamala Harris from 2021 to 2022, and as a policy and communications advisor to Vice President Joe Biden from 2009 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Harris (economist)</span> American economist (born 1977)

Benjamin H. Harris is an American economist who is currently the Vice President and Director of the Economic Studies program at the Brookings Institution. Throughout his career, he has served in several public-service positions, most notably as the chief economist and chief economic advisor to Vice President Joe Biden from 2014 until the end of the Obama administration, and as Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy and Chief Economist of the U.S. Treasury. Harris was the executive director of the Kellogg Public-Private Initiative at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, the Chief Economist to the evidence-based policy organization Results for America, and the founder of the economic policy consulting firm Cherrydale Strategies. He has been a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal and regularly appears on cable television to discuss macroeconomics and public policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jen O'Malley Dillon</span> American political strategist (born 1976)

Jennifer Brigid O'Malley Dillon is an American political strategist and campaign manager serving as a top leader of President Joe Biden's 2024 presidential campaign. She was a White House deputy chief of staff during Biden's first three years as president, after managing his 2020 presidential campaign. She was the manager of Beto O'Rourke's presidential campaign of the same year. She is the first female presidential campaign manager for a winning Democratic ticket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidential transition of Joe Biden</span> Transfer of presidential power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden

The presidential transition of Joe Biden began on November 7, 2020, and ended on January 20, 2021. Unlike previous presidential transitions, which normally take place during the roughly 10-week period between the election in the first week of November and the inauguration on January 20, Biden's presidential transition was shortened somewhat because the General Services Administration under the outgoing Trump administration did not recognize Biden as the "apparent winner" until November 23.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos Elizondo</span> American political aide

Carlos Eduardo Elizondo is an American event planner and political aide who is the current White House social secretary since 2021. Elizondo previously served as a special assistant and social secretary for Joe Biden and Jill Biden during the Obama administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy</span> Position within the White House Office

The White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy is an office within the White House Office that is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It is headed by the Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor, which is president's chief advisor on domestic climate change policy. In addition, the National Climate Advisor serves as vice-chair of the National Climate Task Force.

Emmy Ruiz is an American political advisor serving as the White House director of political strategy and outreach for President Joe Biden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Graves</span> American banker and government official

Donet Dominic Graves, Jr. is an American political advisor and government official who is the current Deputy Secretary of Commerce in the Biden Administration. Graves formerly led the Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot and served in multiple roles within the Obama Administration, including as an advisor to then-Vice President Joe Biden.

Unicorn Hunters is a reality television series that debuted in 2021 on Amazon Prime.

References

  1. ↑ The Vel Group website, retrieved September 1, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Extended bio page, Stein Mitchell website, retrieved September 1, 2017.
  3. 1 2 RGV Native Tapped for White House Job, Valley Freedom Newspapers, January 4, 2009 [ permanent dead link ], retrieved February 5, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Senior White House Official Moe Vela joins Holland & Knight as partner," hispanictips.com, retrieved February 5, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Moe Vela’s very, very, very public life," dallasvoice.com, retrieved April 18, 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 "Moe Vela takes charge at Strategia - 2001-10-29 - Birmingham Business Journal". Archived from the original on 2003-02-20.
  7. ↑ "Former Biden adviser Moe Vela's Big Idea: Republicans 'need to feel heard' by new administration". Fox News . 14 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "Moe Vela’s very, very, very public life," dallasvoice.com, retrieved April 18, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Moe Vela Jr. Joins Biden's Team" . Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  10. ↑ "Welcome to the Moe Vela era - POLITICO". Politico . 22 January 2021.
  11. ↑ "Remote work can be a tool for recruiting a more diverse staff". 16 June 2020.
  12. ↑ MarketWatch - The new TV show ‘Unicorn Hunters’ will feature Steve Wozniak and allow viewers to invest in pre-IPO companies
  13. ↑ Realscreen - “The Masked Singer” producer Smart Dog Media preps “Unicorn Hunters”
  14. ↑ "DUTV, Inc. Announces the Addition of A New Advisor to the Board of Easy Energy Systems, Inc". Digital Utilities Ventures. 1 November 2022.
  15. ↑ Washington Post Live (2021-11-16) [2021-11-09]. ""Unicorn Hunters" with Silvina Moschini, Moe Vela & Steve Wozniak". The Washington Post . Washington, D.C. ISSN   0190-8286. OCLC   1330888409.[ please check these dates ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.