Nina Vaca is an award-winning entrepreneur, CEO, board member, and philanthropist who is on a mission to connect people with opportunity. In 1996, she founded Pinnacle Group, which has grown into the largest Hispanic-owned workforce solutions company in North America serving 20 percent of the Fortune 100. In 2024, Pinnacle Group was ranked among the top 20 largest Managed Service Providers (MSP) globally by Staffing Industry Analysts.
Under Vaca’s leadership, Pinnacle Group has received numerous awards and recognitions over the years including the coveted Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and the Goldman Sachs Most Intriguing Entrepreneur. She was inducted into the Minority Business Hall of Fame and named a Trailblazing Woman in Labor and Business by the Women’s History Project. Pinnacle itself was named to the Inc. Magazine 500/5000 list of fastest-growing companies 13 times and the Women Presidents’ Organization named it the fastest-growing woman-owned/led company in the country twice.
Most recently, Newsweek named Pinnacle Group one of America’s Greatest Workplaces in four separate categories, including overall, as well as for diversity and for women.
Vaca is also a committed civic leader and philanthropist. In 2014, she was appointed by the White House as one of the inaugural Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship (PAGE), traveling to 5 continents uplifting individuals, families, and communities. She is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, where she now serves on the Aspen Latinos in Society Advisory Board, contributing her expertise to elevate Latino leadership on a global scale. Today, she is the entrepreneur in residence of the City of Dallas appointed by Mayor Eric Johnson.
She is a distinguished alumna of Texas State University and recently established the Nina Vaca Innovation & Entrepreneurship Endowment. A lifelong learner, she completed the Corporate Governance Executive Program at Harvard University. She’s received honorary doctorates from Northwood University, Mount Mary University, and Berkeley College.