She holds a BS in International Studies and Business Administration from St. Mary of the Woods College and a Ph.D. from the University of Miami.

During her tenure at LCLAA, she helped co-found the National Latino Coalition on Climate Change (NLCCC) and was a Commissioner for the Commission to Engage African-Americans on Climate Change (CEAAC).

Gabriela was also the first woman to chair the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) from 2008-2009.

Lemus was Director of Policy and Legislation at the League of United Latin American Citizens from 2000 to 2007 where she founded the LULAC Democracy Initiative, a national Hispanic civic participation campaign and founded Latinos for a Secure Retirement - a national campaign to fight against the privatization of Social Security.

Lemus has appeared in both English and Spanish language media outlets, including CNN, CNN en Español, C-SPAN, MSNBC, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Your World with Neil Cavuto, Univision and Telemundo, among others.