Dr. Vela has been involved in working with the mentally ill and developmentally disabled for the past 15 years. Dr. Vela is a noted expert in the area of community-based consultation. He has been invited to lecture on consultation both locally and internationally. Dr Vela completed his doctoral work at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA and his post-graduate certification in Applied behavior analysis at Penn State University. He completed his undergraduate work at St. John’s and UC Berkeley.

In 2005 Dr. Vela teamed up with Dr. Alex Campbell to eventually form Understanding Behavior, Inc (UBI). Dr Vela serves as Chairman on UBI's Board of Directors. In addition to his position with UBI, he is currently involved in state wide related projects such as behavioral trainings for staff working with the dually diagnosed, critical intervention services to people with developmental disabilities and enhancing the clinical practice within supported living services to adults with special needs who wish to live independently.

Dr. Vela sits on the Board of Directors for Fred Finch Youth Center, one of California’s oldest agencies serving foster youth. Dr. Vela is also collaborating with filmmaker, Sven Wiederholt, on a documentary about reincarnation as well as a documentary about people with developmental disabilities and hopes to use film as a medium for training people interested in working with special needs individuals.