Maria-Elena Giner

Maria-Elena Giner is an American engineer and former U.S. Commissioner of the International Boundary Water Commission (IBWC). Appointed by President Joe Biden in 2001, she was the first Latina and second woman to hold the position. She left the position in 2025, following a demand for her resignation from President Donald Trump as he began his second term. Following her departure, she joined Black & Veatch, a major engineering firm, as a portfolio lender.

Early life and education Giner is the daughter of an immigrant and has lived half her life in Mexico and half her life in the United States. Her mother is from California and her father is from Chihuahua. Giner was born in Los Angeles, but moved to Juarez, Mexico when she was in elementary school. She later attended St. Joseph's and Loretto Academy. She credits her upbringing on the border and a lack of consistent access to water as her inspiration to study civil engineering and participate in public policy.

Giner is a first-generation college graduate. She holds a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Loyola Marymount University, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at El Paso, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of Texas at Austin. According to Giner, under her tenure, the percentage of the Mexican population across the border with wastewater service increased from 26% to over 90%, reducing 700 million gallons a day of raw sewage from flowing between Mexico and the United States. Her appointment was endorsed by twelve Congressional House members. and beginning repairs at a San Diego wastewater treatment plant which was polluting the ocean and forcing beach closures.