Gastón Luken Garza

Family

He was born in Monterrey but since three days old he moved to Mexicali. His parents are prominent businessman Gaston Luken Aguilar and Alejandra Garza. Gaston Luken Garza is married to Alicia Luna Alvarado with whom he has three children: Analicia, Gaston and Alvaro.

Education

Gaston Luken has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education and has postgraduate studies in Ipade. He is a director of several companies in the area of Tijuana, Baja California city where he lives and where he chaired the Patrons Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex). He was appointed (by competition) Fellow of the Eisenhower Foundation representing Mexico in 2000.

Business

In November 1982 he opened his first bakery "La Baguette" in Mexicali, which had a very large growth achieving 12 branches in total. Due to the success of the bakery in 1985 he expanded to Tijuana and grew to 10 branches.

Gaston Luken, along with his father and several Mexican partners, built a company called Proxima SA, which in turn associated with Sempra Energy to transport natural gas to Baja California.

Politics

In 1994 he was invited to become Electoral Adviser to the State Electoral Institute of Baja California (IEEBC). He was later appointed President Director and co-organized the 1995 state election in which conducted the renovation of governor, mayors and local councils.

When finishing its management at the IEEBC was appointed Comptroller General of the Federal District for the first elected head of government, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas at 1997 remaining in the position until 1999. At the end of Cuauhtemoc Cardenas he served as adviser to Rosario Robles in the City Government.

In 2000 Gaston Luken was appointed (by agreement of the PAN, PRI and PRD) Chairman of the General Council of the Federal Electoral Institute, when it was chaired by José Woldenberg. While there, he headed the commission of the Federal Register of Voters until 2004.

In 2009 he was invited by the National Action Party to participate in the federal election as a citizen candidate for federal deputy for the V Federal Electoral District of Baja California. Gaston Luken won the federal council of the district with the largest difference in any other electoral districts in the state. During his seat he handled more than 284 million pesos for culture, sports, infrastructure, environment and NGO (Red Cross, Fundación Castro Limón, Boys and Girls Club, Breakfast Father Chava, Nursing, Fronteras Unidas Pro Salud, Pasitos, among others).

Civic participation

Throughout his career, Gaston Luken has been active in specialized agencies on transparency, citizen participation and economic competitiveness. He was President Director of Transparencia Mexicana A.C., an organization dedicated to promoting government transparency as a tool against corruption. He was also co-chairman of the Smart Border Coalition, an organization that promotes agile crossing of people and goods at the border of the Tijuana-San Diego region.

Philanthropic activities

Gaston Luken has a long history of supporting civil society organizations.

He was counselor CETYS University, promoting higher education standards. On environmental issues he was part of the board of Pronatura, an institution that promotes environmental stewardship. He served also in the boards of the Red Cross and Fronteras Unidas Pro Salud. He has also donated to the Mental Health Hospital, an institution that is dedicated to serving in a dignified and professional manner to people suffering from mental diseases.

Luken also supports the orphanage "Drawing a Smile" and the Casa Hogar Santa Teresa for victims of sexual abuse. He has also collaborated with the Casa Hogar Eunime for children with AIDS, as well as the House of Ideas in Camino Verde, one of the poorest communities in Tijuana.