Adrian Vega ED.D
Dr. Adrian Vega is the Executive Director for the Education Partnership of the Permian Basin. Before becoming Executive Director, Dr. Vega served in various school districts across the state of Texas and Arizona for 20 years. Dr. Vega began his career in the Dallas Independent School District as a bilingual teacher, elementary school assistant principal, instructional coach, and professional developer. Dr. Vega also served as a middle school principal in the Tyler Independent School District, where he brought Project Based Learning and Project Lead the Way to Boulter Middle School. While serving in the Ector County ISD, Dr. Vega was the founding principal of New Tech Odessa High School, an all-academic, college-prep, project-based learning high school. After serving in ECISD, Dr. Vega became the Deputy Superintendent for the Tucson Unified School District in Tucson, Arizona. Returning to Texas, Dr. Vega served as the Superintendent of Schools of the San Benito CISD in San Benito, Texas. Dr. Vega has been married to Kathryn Vega since 1999. He and his wife are the proud parents of their son Avery, a current student at The University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business, and their daughter Della, a Senior at UTPB STEM Academy.
Kendall Gray
Kendall Gray joined the EPPB team as a Coordinator in August 2022. She is a lifelong resident of West Texas, having been born and raised in Odessa. Kendall left Odessa to attend college at Texas Tech University, where she received a degree in Marketing. Upon graduation in 2020, Kendall moved back to the Permian Basin to work for Midland Development Corporation as their Marketing & Administration Coordinator. She made the big move from Odessa to Midland once she began her career at MDC.
Kendall is eager to make a positive impact on her community through her involvement with EPPB and outside of the organization. In her free time, Kendall enjoys all things pop culture, baking, and spending time with family. If she is not traveling on the weekends, you can usually find her on the golf course.
Shelby Smith
Shelby Smith is a native West Texan. She was born and raised in Odessa, Texas. After high school, she attended Abilene Christian University where she received a degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders. After her time at ACU, she moved back to Odessa where she began her career as Speech-Language Pathologist Assistant for Ector County ISD in 2014. Continuing in education, she began teaching third grade in a general education classroom for Midland ISD. She received a master’s degree in special education from Sul Ross State University in 2019. She has also worked as a Special education resource teacher, Diagnostician and most recently as a Child Find Coordinator for MISD.
Shelby has been married to Cade Smith since 2016. They are the proud parents of a son Luxton who is five, and a daughter Emmie who is two. Shelby has a passion for her community and is excited to continue to make an impact through the work of the Education Partnership of the Permian Basin. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, spending time with her family and attending Texas Tech sporting events.
Elana Ladd
Elana serves as Strategic Initiatives and Collaboration Manager for Education Partnership of the Permian Basin. Elana is a skilled communicator, having spent over six years as the Communications Officer for a city and large school district. Her public affairs experience spans public, private and non-profit roles in Midland, Austin, and Washington, D.C. Elana is passionate about building relationships to create opportunities for students and young people in the Permian Basin. She serves as the President of the Junior League of Midland. Elana holds a B.A. from Smith College.