Gina Lujan is an accomplished technology and business leader with thirty- three years of entrepreneurial experience spanning innovation, workforce development, governance, and community-based economic systems.

She co-founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of Hacker Lab, established in 2012 in Sacramento, California. Under her leadership, Hacker Lab grew into one of the nation’s most recognized entrepreneurial, educational, and workforce development organizations, serving more than 1,100 community members annually and supporting over 300 micro-businesses.

Gina’s leadership and vision helped propel Hacker Lab to national prominence within the makerspace and creative-economy movement. Her work also played a formative role in shaping statewide innovation and workforce policy. Hacker Lab partnered with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office and Sierra College to launch one of the first pilot makerspace programs within California’s community college system. This early collaboration helped secure foundational funding and provided a working model for how makerspaces could support workforce development across the state. That work became a cornerstone of the statewide California Community Colleges Maker Initiative that followed.

Her contributions have been recognized through numerous regional, state, and national honors, including:

• Sacramento Business Journal’s Top 25 Business Leaders (2012, 2013)
• International Women’s Day Award for Community Impact (2012)
• Women Who Mean Business Award for Regional Leadership (2013)
• Valley Vision Legacy Feast Award for Economic Development (2014)
• National Latina of Excellence in Information Sciences and Technology, awarded by LISTA (2015)
• Hispanic Chamber Salúd Business Award for Community (2019)
• Unsung Hero Award, presented by California State Senator Richard Pan (2020)
• Sacramento Magazine’s Most Influential Business Leaders (2020)
• Sac Bee Equity Lab Top 20 Latino Changemakers of Sacramento (2024)

In addition to these honors, Gina has received formal recognition from the California State Assembly, the California State Senate, members of Congress, and the U.S. House of Representatives for her exceptional contributions to entrepreneurship, innovation, and community advancement.

Her work and leadership have been featured in national and international media outlets, including Reuters, TechCrunch, and Forbes, and she has been invited to speak at TEDx.

Beyond public recognition, Gina has built and led meaningful innovation partnerships with major corporations, including Intel, VSP, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T, SMUD, and Kaiser Permanente. She and her teams have also served as innovation consultants on undisclosed projects for Northrop Grumman AS and Toyota.

In parallel with her organizational leadership, Gina has provided direct consulting services to municipal and county governments on workforce development, innovation strategy, and entrepreneurship ecosystems. Her consulting clients have included the City of Sonora, Tuolumne County, City of Brentwood, and the City of Sacramento. In these roles, she advised on workforce pipelines, innovation infrastructure, entrepreneurship programming, and strategies to align economic development goals with local talent, education systems, and small-business ecosystem

Gina co-founded the launch of Code For Hood, a nonprofit organization providing STEM education and entrepreneurship training to underserved youth. In 2015, Code For Hood received state and congressional commendations for Civic Engagement and was named Non-Profit of the Year by the State of California.

Her civic leadership includes formal governance and oversight roles. Gina served as a City Commissioner for the City of Sacramento’s Measure U Oversight Committee from 2019 through 2022, contributing to fiscal oversight and accountability for voter-approved city investments. She has also served on several regional boards, including the Sacramento Metro Chamber and the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, supporting regional economic development, business advocacy, and equity-focused initiatives. She currently serves as a Board Member of Valley Vision, contributing to long-range regional strategy, economic development, and inclusive growth efforts.

Her leadership gained national attention during the Obama administration, when she and her team were invited to the White House for a closed-session meeting with the Nation of Makers, which recognized the role of maker spaces in shaping the future of American innovation.

Today, Hacker Lab has evolved into MADE Here CDC, a nonprofit community development corporation that supports programs including MADE Studio, Sac Made Market, MakeHers, and other creative manufacturing and entrepreneurship initiatives. Gina continues to provide leadership across these efforts, focusing on sustainable systems, workforce pathways, and access to opportunity for under-resourced entrepreneurs.

Gina Lujan continues to build durable community infrastructure, advise organizations at critical inflection points, and create pathways for economic empowerment, serving as a catalyst for makers, creatives, and entrepreneurs across Sacramento and beyond.

YouTube Video: Interview For Success Equity Success Initiative
YouTube Video: Women Who Mean Business Award 2013