Gemma was born and raised in southeast San Diego. She attended Bates College in Lewiston, Maine and earned a BA in Spanish and Gender and Sexuality Studies. She worked as an academic coach at High Tech Middle Mesa before joining the San Diego Teacher Residency program at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education. This past year she has been a Teacher Resident at HTMM and a long-term substitute teacher at HTM. Throughout her own schooling, she has had a lot of role models, teachers, and mentors that instilled in her a passion for learning that she would also love to pass on. In her free time, Gemma enjoys exploring museums, discovering great coffee shops, attending Padres baseball games, and reading at places with great views.