Lisa Craig-Hensley was born in Lodi and graduated from Tokay High in 1978. She is a local business owner, a former Lodi Planning Commissioner, and a past member of SPARC. Currently, she serves as a Councilwoman and was Mayor in 2024. She serves as the City Council liaison for the San Joaquin County Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan update, is a member of the Economic Development Ad-Hoc Committee and is working to protect and create economic incentives for Lodi’s historic downtown and eastside neighborhood commercial districts.

 

In addition, Ms. Craig-Hensley is Chair of the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, a board member of the San Joaquin Council of Governments, a board member of the San Joaquin Partnership, and represents Lodi on the California League of Cities Environmental Committee.  She also serves as the cultural heritage expert on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Heritage Area Advisory Committee.

 

Alongside her Council duties, Ms. Craig-Hensley is the Managing Partner for Kettleman Station, a commercial retail and service center along Lodi’s Highway 99 corridor. She is also Principal of The Craig Group Partners, a national consulting firm specializing in climate resilience planning and historic property redevelopment in older communities.

 

Prior to returning to her hometown of Lodi in 2018, Ms. Craig-Hensley spent 35 years working in city planning, military housing, property rehabilitation, Main Street revitalization, and public policy in the Washington DC metro area. Since that time, she has consulted for City governments on climate adaptation and disaster resilience planning in St. Augustine, FL; Nantucket, MA; New Bern, NC; Fort Lauderdale, FL; and most recently, Trinidad and Tobago. She is the creator and lead trainer for the National Alliance of Historic Preservation Commissions’ Disaster Resilience training workshops and for the National Preservation Institute Resiliency Planning seminar, a frequent speaker at state and national conferences, and recipient of numerous state and national awards for planning and community engagement.   

 

Ms. Craig-Hensley also serves Lodi as Past President and Treasurer for the Lodi-Tokay Rotary, a Lodi Chamber of Commerce Government Relations Committee member, a San Joaquin Business Council board member and is on the formation committee of the Lodi Heritage Alliance. 

 

She has recently renovated an 1894 Victorian-era home in Lodi’s Eastside and is a volunteer and donor to numerous Lodi non-profit organizations.