Born in Spokane, WA, Vangela Churchill came to the Rio Grande Valley as a young girl. She grew up in Port Isabel, but lived most of her life in Sullivan City and La Joya, TX. Four of those years were spent in Monterrey, N.L., Mexico where she became fluent in Spanish. She has more than 25 years of experience in the educational field including serving as a high school assistant principal and adjunct professor for Strayer University.

Vangela has four children and three grandchildren and is the proud wife of a Texas State Trooper who is also serving on the border in the National Guard. 

Vangela is the first in her family to go to college and get a degree. She started at South Texas College and transferred to the University of Texas Pan American with a Bachelors in Fine Arts. She then went on to get a Masters in Fine Arts from National University where she wrote a book of Chicano Poetry, a M. Ed from St. Thomas University and is shy three classes from getting her Bachelors in Business Management from Purdue Global.