Gina serves as the director of place-based philanthropy for Caring for Colorado. In this role, she oversees our place-based efforts in Pueblo County, including overseeing the Sperry S. and Ella Graber Packard Fund for Pueblo responsive grantmaking program, nonprofit capacity-building opportunities, and our youth grantmaking program.
Before joining the Caring for Colorado team, Gina was the executive director of TRIO programs at CSU Pueblo and the project director for the TRIO Upward Bound and Educational Talent Search programs. In these roles, she worked to increase college access and graduation rates for first-generation students and individuals living with low incomes (middle school–aged to adults) throughout Southern Colorado. Gina has more than 20 years of diverse professional experience in college access, higher education, and the philanthropy and nonprofit sector, including time spent at CSU Pueblo, Pueblo Community College, and El Pomar Foundation.
Gina is active in her community and has volunteered most recently with the Community Service Advisory Commission with Pueblo County, Communities That Care Coalition with the Pueblo Department of Public Health, Pueblo School District 70 Accountability Committee, and the Early Childhood Council. She is also an active volunteer with Valley First and Saint Aloysius Catholic Church, both in Colorado City.
Gina is also a board-certified life coach and is certified to administer the MBTI and True Color assessments. Born and raised in Pueblo, she is passionate about helping to facilitate positive change in her community. Gina graduated from Colorado College with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and received her Master of Science in education from the University of Kansas.
Gina resides with her husband of over 20 years, Andrew, and her two teenage sons in Colorado City, a small town just south of Pueblo. In her free time, if she is not volunteering with her church, she enjoys reading, walking around Lake Beckwith, and golfing and fishing with her husband.
In high school, you could find Gina listening to indie rock, ska, punk, and strong-women artists. She spent time at skate parks and coffee shops and went to garage concerts on the weekends.
“Mr. Benfield was my favorite teacher. He taught high school social sciences and gifted us with so many lessons on how to live and love. He taught us to always put others first and how to find light in the darkest places! He challenged us to give to our community, love people as they are, speak our truth, live our love, and give our hearts. He believed a better world was possible, and it was our job to shepherd it in.”