From left to right: Kevin Vela, Mary Terry, Ellie Landon, and Jorge Almeida
Please join Catholic Charities Dallas in welcoming four new members to our board of directors!
Kevin Vela is the Managing Partner at Vela Wood, a boutique business law firm in Texas. He focuses his practice in venture financing, M&A, fund representation, and gaming law. He has represented startups and investors in hundreds of financing transactions ranging from angel rounds through Series C. Kevin also teaches venture transactions courses at UT Austin School of Law and SMU Dedman School of Law. Kevin is deeply rooted in the Dallas community. He serves as a mentor for RevTech Ventures, co-manages Blossom Street Ventures, and is a fluent Spanish speaker committed to serving the broader Dallas community – including providing bilingual legal representation on request. Kevin has been recognized on the Super Lawyers lists from 2021–2026, named one of D Magazine’s Best Lawyers in Dallas eight times – most recently in 2026 – and is a Texas Bar Foundation Fellow, an honor granted to just 1/3 of 1% of Texas attorneys. A UT Austin graduate with a BBA in Finance and J.D. with Honors, Kevin was raised in Arlington and is a proud Dallas native. He and his wife Layla are parents to two children, Ariana and Arman.
Mary De Loache Terry is a fourth-generation Dallas native with a long history of service in the community. She has held active volunteer and leadership roles with St. Rita Catholic Church and School, Jesuit College Preparatory School, Ursuline Academy of Dallas, Junior League of Dallas, and Catholic Charities of Dallas, among others. She currently serves on the board of Cristo Rey Dallas and has previously served on the boards of the Notre Dame School of Dallas, the Jesuit Dallas Museum, and The Catholic Foundation. Mary graduated from Ursuline Academy and earned a degree in sociology from the University of North Texas. She began her career working with children with disabilities at the Denton State School, an experience that helped shape her lasting commitment to children and families. In 2006, she and her husband, Mike Terry, co-founded The Mike & Mary Terry Family Foundation, which continues to support children, families, and vulnerable neighbors across North Texas today. Mary and Mike are the proud parents of three grown children and the grandparents to seven. Outside of volunteering, Mary enjoys traveling with family and friends and spending time in the great outdoors.
Eleanor “Ellie” Landon is a real estate attorney, volunteer and philanthropist. Ellie has a BS finance from Louisiana State University (1981) and a J.D. from Southern Methodist University (1987). After careers in banking and corporate law, Ellie joined her husband in building their real estate and home building companies, including currently, Landon Homes and Landon Development. John and Ellie established the Landon Family Foundation for charitable giving with an emphasis on supporting Catholic education, as well as other Catholic humanitarian efforts. A former trustee on the Jesuit Dallas Foundation Board where she chaired the Nominating and Governance Committee in her final year, she also served on several leadership committees for Jesuit Dallas, Prince Of Peace Catholic school and the leadership council for the Our Faith, Our Family Campaign for the diocese of Dallas. The Landons have also served as members on the University of Notre Dame Undergraduate Experience Council. Ellie has a long-term commitment to delivering meals to the elderly for Meals On Wheels and Collin County. Ellie and John have four children and six grandchildren.
Jorge has over 15 years of experience in marketing, working at Anheuser-Busch InBev (yes, the beer company) and most recently Avocados From Mexico (yes, free avocados). For AT&T, he has developed award winning advertising campaigns for Fiber and helped AT&T get recognized as the 2025 Hispanic Marketer of the Year by the Hispanic Marketing Council. Jorge is originally from the border town of El Paso, Texas but lived in multiple South American countries growing up. He went to St. Edward’s University in Austin for his undergraduate studies in Marketing and graduated with his MBA from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in 2021. He’s currently a part-time instructor at the SMU’s Business Leadership Center presenting on Change Management and Marketing. Jorge is an avid marathon runner (24 marathons and counting) and is married to Fabiola and has two daughters, Ximena (3 years old) and Fernanda (1 year old).
The way in which these incredible individuals are using their talents to drive transformative change within our community is truly admirable. We are honored and excited to benefit from their leadership!
