About Me
Mr. David Vela serves as a Trustee for the Los Angeles Community College District, representing 300,000 students at Los Angeles City College, East LA College, Harbor College, Mission College, Pierce College, Southwest College, LA Trade-Tech College, Valley College, and West LA College.
David has been at the forefront in advocating for a second year of free tuition, student and workforce housing, job training, job creation and completion of student certificates, transferring, and A.A degrees. Under his leadership, there has been an increase in baccalaureate degrees and guaranteed admissions programs to top universities.
In addition, David has led the charge in ensuring that the District meets its annual bond dollars expenditure goals and providing state-of-the-art facilities for students. Mr. Vela is streamlining procurement mechanisms to increase the participation of African-American, Woman-Owned, Minority, Local, Veteran, and LGBTQ enterprise-certified businesses. As Chair of the Public Affairs and Legislative Committee, Mr. Vela is creating state laws that look at college affordability, proper faculty ratios, and financial aid expansion, including a Cal Grant expansion. He secured permanent state funding for LGBTQ+ centers at each of the nine colleges. In addition, Trustee Vela has ensured the creation of Basic Needs centers at each college, which provide students with access to interim housing and food vouchers, amongst many other services.
Historically, David Vela has more than 20 years of experience in the public sector. In 2002, David served as Senior Legislative Assistant to former Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg, handling Labor, Transportation, and Economic Development. David also served as Senior Advisor to the Employment Development Department under former Governor Gray Davis's administration. After his time in Sacramento, David spent ten years as a Senior Deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina. In this capacity, David oversaw two billion dollars in capital infrastructure improvements in Unincorporated East Los Angeles. These projects included the East Los Angeles Civic Center, the Eastside Gold Line, and the Whittier Boulevard Streetscape project.
From 2007-2015, David served on the Montebello Unified School District (MUSD) Board of Education. Mr. Vela is credited with implementing a near-perfect attendance program, which improved the District's Average Daily Attendance to over 96%. David contributed to increased API and AYP scores as well as a 94 % district graduation rate. Furthermore, Mr. Vela implemented College Bound Today, a college preparatory program that matches mentors with high school sophomores to guide them through the college application process, and championed dual enrollment for students at East Los Angeles College. David Vela has been a champion for linked learning and spearheaded one of the only pathways high schools in the United States, the Applied Technology Center. Mr. Vela's tenure on the Board also included the successful passage of the first Project Labor Agreement (PLA) in MUSD history for an anticipated $600 million school bond to modernize classrooms and schools for the 21st century.
In 2012, David served as the Chief of Staff to the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Labor. After his impressive tenure in Sacramento, David joined the firm of Lee Andrews Group in Los Angeles, California. As Senior Vice President of External Affairs, David was responsible for identifying business development opportunities, client retention, communication with elected officials, and project management. In addition, David led public outreach efforts on major construction projects and spearheaded all government and community relations with local government agencies.
David also served as Communications Manager for the Los Angeles Community College District's Build-LACCD construction program in charge of agenda creation, media relations, public affairs, and labor compliance.
David Vela received his Bachelors of Science Degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and holds a Master's Degree in Public Policy with concentrations in Economics and International Relations. He owns his own Public Affairs company and lives in Montebello, CA.