ACG Houston May 14 Luncheon

Gina, a recognized leader with invaluable business insight, is a trusted advisor to CEOs and business owners.  As CEO of Luna Strategies, Mrs. Luna counsels companies and their leaders on complex strategic issues and growth initiatives.  She has established a reputation of partnering with owners, boards and management from a broad spectrum of industries to deliver solutions and drive results.

Mrs. Luna is a member of the Board of Directors for Tetra Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: TTI), where she serves on the Audit Committee and the Nominating & Governance Committee.  Tetra is a $1B oil and gas services company headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas; she has served on the board since July 2018.  She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Melior Innovations, a materials technology company. Gina also serves as an advisor to the management of Complete Intelligence, an early stage artificial intelligence company, and several other privately-held business owners and management teams. 

Prior to founding Luna Strategies, Mrs. Luna held senior executive roles with JPMorgan Chase. From 2009 to 2016, she served as Chairman of the Houston Market and Managing Director of Chase Commercial Banking.  During her 22-year career, she was progressively promoted from management and business development roles to COO, Commercial and Investment Banking, and to Chief Marketing Officer of the Chase Commercial Bank business, before assuming the Chairman role.  She ran a $150+M revenue business, managed sizable teams, led marketing and communications, talent development, risk management and strategic planning.

As a dynamic, committed business leader, Mrs. Luna continues to be actively involved in supporting the community in which she works and lives.  She is the founding Chairman of the Board for Houston Exponential (HX), an organization focused on building the innovation ecosystem in Houston. She raised the $50M HX Venture Fund to support the HX mission and attract more venture capital to Houston.  Gina is a member of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Houston Branch, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of CHI St. Luke’s Health System.  She also serves as a trustee of The Welch Foundation.  She was elected chairman of the Greater Houston Partnership in 2015 and served as chair of the nationally acclaimed workforce initiative, UpSkill Houston, from 2013 to 2017.  She continues her service on the Greater Houston Partnership board, executive committee, and nominating committee.

Mrs. Luna is a member of NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors), the International Women’s Forum, and the Texas A&M Mays School of Business Dean's Advisory Board.  Mrs. Luna is active in the Young Presidents’ Organization.

She is a summa cum laude graduate of Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance and Management. 

Tim Marx is a Venture Partner with Baird Capital based in Houston, TX where he helps pursue new investment ideas as well as build value within existing portfolio companies.  Prior to joining Baird, Marx spent >15 years at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where he was a Partner and Managing Director in both the Houston and Mexico offices.  He continues to serve as an advisor and mentor for Houston based start-ups at both TMCx and Station Houston.  Tim is also a member of the Investment Committee for the Texas Medical Center Venture Fund.

Marx holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance, International Business and Spanish from The Pennsylvania State University and a MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.  He was a 2000-01 Fulbright Scholar at ITESM in Monterrey, Mexico.

Ceci Arreola joined Rice Management Company in 2015 as the Asset Manager for Real Estate. Ms. Arreola is responsible for the portfolio of direct assets and assists with oversight of the broader real estate portfolio. Previously, she spent five years at Lionstone Investments, a Houston based real estate private equity firm, where she was the Assistant Portfolio Manager for 3 value-add funds and one core separate account totaling $1.3 billion in AUM. She has prior experience in real estate investment sales and development. Ms. Arreola received her M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in honors sociology, cum laude from Rice University. She is an active member of the Urban Land Institute and serves as the Vice Chair for its Women's Leadership Initiative in Houston.