TEAM
FILEMON VELA
Principal
He served as a member of Congress from 2013 to 2022, representing the 34th Congressional District of Texas, and was a member of the Armed Services, Homeland Security, and Agriculture Committees.
From 2022 to 2024, he joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as a Partner, where he helped clients leverage relationships and advance ambitious policy goals in areas such as commerce, energy, economic issues, agriculture, transportation, infrastructure, national security, and defense issues.
In 2023, he launched the super PAC BOLD America, alongside New Mexico’s Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and former California Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard to help elect Hispanic and Latino candidates to Congress.
Vela was nominated by President Joe Biden in 2021 to serve as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. He also served as vice chair of the U.S. Delegation to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—NATO—Parliamentary Assembly in 2022.
Prior to serving in Congress, Rep. Vela spent more than 20 years as a litigator in his private practice.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and government from Georgetown University and a J.D. from the University of Texas.
PAULINA MEJIA SHIBLER
Senior Advisor
Government relations, public affairs, and international relations professional with 11 years of experience in both private and public sectors.
From 2019 to 2023, she worked as Director of Congressional Affairs at the Embassy of Colombia in the United States. In this role, she helped the Colombian government expand and strengthen bilateral relations with the U.S. Congress, achieving substantial milestones in development, trade, and national security legislation, such as the appropriation of $497.3 million for non-defense assistance to Colombia in 2023.
Earlier at the Embassy, she also oversaw outreach with think tanks and conducted the Embassy’s strategy for timely access to U.S.-manufactured COVID-19 vaccines for Colombia. This work facilitated the initial procurement of 20 million doses, plus 8 million donated by the U.S. Government, ensuring coverage of at least 50% of the Colombian population with the first dose.
Previously, she worked as an attorney in Colombia. She practiced law in the boutique law firm PSC Legal, advising and litigating on behalf of government agencies and state contractors on some of the largest infrastructure projects in Colombia, such as El Tunel del Toyo.
Earlier in her career, she also worked as a corporate attorney for the Canadian-own mining company Gran Colombia Gold Corp.
She holds a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
