Veta Byrd-Perez is a Senior Associate General Counsel at Rice University. A native of Columbus, Ohio, Veta received a B.A. in Economics from Spelman College and a J.D. from Yale Law School. She developed a passion for empowering women and girls while volunteering in Quito, Ecuador and meeting an amazing group of Afro-Ecuadorian women who had phenomenal ideas about how to improve their socio-economic status but lacked the resources to do so. Upon return to Houston, Veta became the founder and executive director of When and Where I Enter, Inc., a foundation that awarded more than $80,000 in grants to charitable organizations in Latin America to support Afro-Latina women and girls.

Veta is also active in the Houston community. Among other activities, she is a member of the National Alumnae Association of Spelman College – Houston Chapter and a member of the African-American Art Advisory Association of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Veta serves as chair of the Grant Review Committee for Impact100 Houston.