Gina Mariko Rosales is an experience curator, events enthusiast, efficiency nerd, and nonprofit advocate. She is the Founder & Chief Experience Officer (CEO) of Make it Mariko, as well as the Co-Founder & Event Producer of the well-known UNDISCOVERED SF Creative Night Market in San Francisco’s SOMA Pilipinas Cultural Heritage District, which launched to over 10,000 people in 2017. 

At the young age of 20, Gina became the Executive Director of the award-winning, nonprofit performing arts organization, Funkanometry SF where she managed 5 dance companies, international performances, and summer youth camps. She produced an annual dance show at The Regency Ballroom — all while finishing her Philosophy & Education degree at UC Berkeley.

After working in the nonprofit sector for years after graduating, Gina moved into the corporate world at Google. First in Recruiting, she later became the first Administrative Business Partner for the Google Self-Driving Car team (now known as Waymo) under Google X. She was quickly promoted to Program Manager, and later became the first Head of Marketing Events for Google X, where she produced strategic Marketing, Press, and Public Policy events for innovative tech projects like Waymo (self-driving cars), Project Loon (internet balloons), and Project Wing (drone delivery service). At X, Gina worked directly under the wing of Megan Smith, who later went on to become the Chief Technology Officer for the White House.

In 2015 Gina founded Make it Mariko and began producing San Francisco food & music festivals, as well as nonprofit galas and corporate events independently. In 2017, Gina stumbled into venue consulting & management, which came naturally to an event planner who is constantly curating space and creating business around it. She helped strategize, design, and launch two new venues in San Francisco’s South of Market district (SoMa) – Colorbloq SF & Bluxome Center. For both venues she created strategic event concepts by designing a competitive venue rental program, developing local preferred vendor partnerships, and doing space design consulting. Make it Mariko then designed and produced a unique launch party for key industry leaders, local influencers, small businesses, neighbors, and local politicians.

In 2018 Gina founded Pinayista, an annual Summit and online community for Filipina women (aka Pinays) with the mission to “build sisterhood in the hustle.” Creating businesses, events, and experiences is the heart of Gina’s work, but building communities and connecting people through them is her passion. Gina’s personal mission is to curate magical, meaningful moments that remind people of the beauty and interconnectedness of life. Through her work, she is committed to cultivating abundance and amplifying the voices of creatives of color.