Kelly Vences is a senior trained lay advisor/coach on a research team within the Steve Hicks School of Social Work that delivers depression treatment and fall prevention interventions to older adults. She received her Bachelor of Social Work from The University of Texas at Austin and has been working with the older adult population since 2015.

Kelly is Hopi (Native American) and grew up on the Hopi reservation located in northeastern Arizona. She is an Army veteran with 8 years of military service.